BOOKS

By now, you might have seen Everything, Everything starring Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson, which hit theaters in May. Based on the novel written by Nicola Yoon, the book was her first New York Time's Bestseller and has been praised for it's diversity and imagination.

Her second book, The Sun Is Also a Star, which has been in the top 10 of the NYT Bestseller list for weeks and weeks, is also diverse, as it focuses on an interracial relationship between two high school seniors living in New York. Natasha is a Jamaican-American girl whose family is about to be deported back to Jamaica and Daniel is a Korean-American who is being pressured by his family to be a doctor. The two could not be further from believing in fate—until they meet one another.

The fact that The Sun Is Also a Star realistically focuses on two young people of color is reason enough for it to be made into a movie. It shows diversity in families and relationships at all ages, which is especially important at a time like this when diversity and visibility are needed in the media. But Nicola's writing is what really makes it worthy of a motion picture. She depicts real life issues like peer pressures, family expectations and how immigration can affect the idea of being in love when all hope seems lost.

If Amandla can star in an interracial love story in Everything, Everything, then I think it’s time to show even more of those relationships by making The Sun into a movie, too.

For more information on The Sun Is Also a Star, click here.

Photo credit: Dominique Fella

by Nicole Eggleston | 6/30/2017