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Same Sun Here
Meena and River have a lot in common: fathers forced to work away from home to make ends meet, grandmothers who mean the world to them, and faithful dogs. But Meena is an Indian immigrant girl living in New York City’s Chinatown, while River is a Kentucky coal miner’s son. The unlikely pair become pen pals, sharing thoughts on their lives and, as their friendship deepens, on larger issues such as activism, immigration, racism, and prejudice. Meena’s family studies for citizenship exams, faces harassment by a landlord, and experiences the death of Meena’s grandmother in India, while River’s town faces devastating mountaintop removal, propelling him into a protest march and confrontation with the governor. This glimpse into the lives of two very different youths who find common ground in their everyday lives makes bold statements about cultural misconceptions, the power and powerlessness of the individual and community, and the great value of being and having a friend.
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First published February 14, 2012
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About the author
Silas House
38 books1,573 followersSilas House is the nationally bestselling author of six novels--Clay's Quilt, 2001; A Parchment of Leaves, 2003; The Coal Tattoo, 2005; Eli the Good, 2009; Same Sun Here (co-authored with Neela Vaswani) 2012; Southernmost (2018), as well as a book of creative nonfiction, Something's Rising, co-authored with Jason Howard, 2009; and three plays.
His work frequently appears in The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Salon. He is former commentator for NPR's "All Things Considered". His writing has appeared in recently in Time, Ecotone, Oxford American, Garden and Gun, and many other publications.
House serves on the fiction faculty at the Spalding School of Writing and as the National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at Berea College.
As a music writer House has worked with artists such as Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Lee Ann Womack, Kris Kristofferson, Lucinda Williams, The Judds, Jim James, and many others.
House is the recipient of three honorary doctorates and is the winner of the Nautilus Award, an EB White Award, the Storylines Prize from the New York Public Library/NAV Foundation, the Appalachian Book of the Year, and many other honors.
His work frequently appears in The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Salon. He is former commentator for NPR's "All Things Considered". His writing has appeared in recently in Time, Ecotone, Oxford American, Garden and Gun, and many other publications.
House serves on the fiction faculty at the Spalding School of Writing and as the National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at Berea College.
As a music writer House has worked with artists such as Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Lee Ann Womack, Kris Kristofferson, Lucinda Williams, The Judds, Jim James, and many others.
House is the recipient of three honorary doctorates and is the winner of the Nautilus Award, an EB White Award, the Storylines Prize from the New York Public Library/NAV Foundation, the Appalachian Book of the Year, and many other honors.
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May 12, 2020
Pre-Review Thoughts: I have such a love/hate relationship with Netgalley. I love it because it’s an invaluable way for me, as a British blogger, to get access to books that aren’t published over here for months or, in some instances, at all. I hate it because it always seems that when a new book comes out it’s a fight to the death to get accepted for the popular, well publicised titles. But what I love most about Netgalley is finding books such as this one that I would probably never have found otherwise and absolutely adoring them.
“Let’s say right now that we can tell each other our secrets and we won’t make fun of each other. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you sound weird, too. I am glad of it, because I can be my own true self with you.”
“Sometimes you write things in your letters that I thought nobody had ever thought before, except for me.
But then there it is in your letter.”
Stuffed full of pictures, poems and drawings (which unfortunately weren’t shown in the ARC but will be in the hardback copy I’ll undoubtedly buy), this book tells a simple story. It’s not a particularly original one but it’s a beautiful one all the same.
With Meena and River, Ms Vaswani and Mr House have created two of the most authentic children’s voices I have read. Their letters are full of their worries, their pain, their dreams but they are also full of rich humour that had made laughing and shattering my early nights.
I know I always rabbit on about how much better most middle grade books are at dealing with serious issues honestly than most YA books but I’m just going to rabbit on a little bit more. Because Same Sun Here was no exception.
The environment, tolerance, different cultures, family and politics (this book is set in 2008 around Obama’s inauguration) are but a few topics that are covered in great deal within the letters between Meena and River. There is such a sweet and true message hidden within these pages but there’s a difference between talking about an issue and clobbering you over the head with it.
Fortunately, both Vaswani and House are well aware of this.
This book is, in effect, a love letter to communication.
I don’t know whether I connected with this book because, like Meena and River, my friendship circle is spread across not only the UK, but also across the world. Because of things like e-mail and Skype and Facebook, I can connect with someone on the opposite side of the world and send out separate e-mails to someone in Australia, someone in America and someone in Kent in the time it takes me to find a biro that works.
Sure, e-mails make it possible to have a friendship that isn’t reliant on the Royal Mail, but there truly is nothing like getting a real letter is there?
So true.
I love the act of writing a handwritten letter because you can’t delete bits or change your mind before you send it. Well, I mean, you can use Tippex and stuff (do people still use Tippex for anything as opposed to writing their crushes names on their pencil cases?!) but once it’s on the paper it’s out in the world.
Maybe it’s just me but I feel like there is something much more honest in hand-writing a letter.
This isn’t that much of a spoiler but if you don’t want to know anything about the plot just skip the next paragraph.
Towards the end of the book Meena and River decide to meet in New York and I genuinely felt sad because I thought that now they’ve met, they’d never send letters to each other again.
But I, ever the optimist, would like to believe that they did and they sent each other long, scrawled letters to each other with about how much fun they had when they met up.
I know I went a bit off topic up there, but this book has inspired to make the effort to write more letters to all my kindred spirits scattered across the globe.
On real writing paper.
And maybe written in fountain pen.
[Ha…. This was supposed to be a “quick” review. Whoops]
Recommended For.
People who want to read a book about contemporary issues. People who wished they had a pen pal when they were in school. People who wish they could look out of their window and see mountains. People who will never get tired of their grandma’s stories. People who like to scream at the top of their lungs at passing trains. People who believe that kindred spirits are telepathic. People who can believe that S.E Hinton is a girl and that she wrote a book because girls can do anything. People who wish Kentucky was a shape better suited to cutting it out of toast. People who will join me in my pledge to write more letters.
Some more quotes because I couldn’t narrow them down:
I received a copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley.
“Let’s say right now that we can tell each other our secrets and we won’t make fun of each other. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you sound weird, too. I am glad of it, because I can be my own true self with you.”
“Sometimes you write things in your letters that I thought nobody had ever thought before, except for me.
But then there it is in your letter.”
Stuffed full of pictures, poems and drawings (which unfortunately weren’t shown in the ARC but will be in the hardback copy I’ll undoubtedly buy), this book tells a simple story. It’s not a particularly original one but it’s a beautiful one all the same.
With Meena and River, Ms Vaswani and Mr House have created two of the most authentic children’s voices I have read. Their letters are full of their worries, their pain, their dreams but they are also full of rich humour that had made laughing and shattering my early nights.
I know I always rabbit on about how much better most middle grade books are at dealing with serious issues honestly than most YA books but I’m just going to rabbit on a little bit more. Because Same Sun Here was no exception.
The environment, tolerance, different cultures, family and politics (this book is set in 2008 around Obama’s inauguration) are but a few topics that are covered in great deal within the letters between Meena and River. There is such a sweet and true message hidden within these pages but there’s a difference between talking about an issue and clobbering you over the head with it.
Fortunately, both Vaswani and House are well aware of this.
This book is, in effect, a love letter to communication.
I don’t know whether I connected with this book because, like Meena and River, my friendship circle is spread across not only the UK, but also across the world. Because of things like e-mail and Skype and Facebook, I can connect with someone on the opposite side of the world and send out separate e-mails to someone in Australia, someone in America and someone in Kent in the time it takes me to find a biro that works.
Sure, e-mails make it possible to have a friendship that isn’t reliant on the Royal Mail, but there truly is nothing like getting a real letter is there?
“The reason I’m not on the e-mail list is because I thought it’d be cooler to write letters to somebody, since I can write e-mails to anybody.”
So true.
I love the act of writing a handwritten letter because you can’t delete bits or change your mind before you send it. Well, I mean, you can use Tippex and stuff (do people still use Tippex for anything as opposed to writing their crushes names on their pencil cases?!) but once it’s on the paper it’s out in the world.
Maybe it’s just me but I feel like there is something much more honest in hand-writing a letter.
This isn’t that much of a spoiler but if you don’t want to know anything about the plot just skip the next paragraph.
Towards the end of the book Meena and River decide to meet in New York and I genuinely felt sad because I thought that now they’ve met, they’d never send letters to each other again.
But I, ever the optimist, would like to believe that they did and they sent each other long, scrawled letters to each other with about how much fun they had when they met up.
I know I went a bit off topic up there, but this book has inspired to make the effort to write more letters to all my kindred spirits scattered across the globe.
On real writing paper.
And maybe written in fountain pen.
[Ha…. This was supposed to be a “quick” review. Whoops]
Recommended For.
People who want to read a book about contemporary issues. People who wished they had a pen pal when they were in school. People who wish they could look out of their window and see mountains. People who will never get tired of their grandma’s stories. People who like to scream at the top of their lungs at passing trains. People who believe that kindred spirits are telepathic. People who can believe that S.E Hinton is a girl and that she wrote a book because girls can do anything. People who wish Kentucky was a shape better suited to cutting it out of toast. People who will join me in my pledge to write more letters.
Some more quotes because I couldn’t narrow them down:
“Since reading this book, everyone I pass on the street seems full of stories and dreams and a secret sadness.” (On “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by the by)
“It seems like there are so many homesick people in the world. It seems like so many of us live far away from where we were born.”
“They were all surprised that we are best friends but we haven’t ever met. Ms. Beldsoe said that’s what happens when you find a ‘kindred spirit’.”
I received a copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley.
October 30, 2021
4.5 Stars
’And then I thought to myself that it’s the same sun here as it is there, and that made me feel like you’re not so far away after all.’
Published in 2012, this is a story aimed at YA readers that tackles several relevant social issues that will speak to all ages. Set partially in rural Kentucky, where River lives, and Manhattan, where Meena lives, this explores not only immigration, nature, families, fathers whose work forces them to live apart from their families, and mothers who are left to make decisions for their family, as well as the marital dynamics of decision making. Throw in racial issues, Meena being a relatively new immigrant from India, and River, who is part Irish and part Cherokee, as well as the standard stresses of those pre-teen and teenage years.
Meena and River become friends over time as pen pals through a school project, sharing their thoughts, frustrations and dreams. River’s mother is an environmental activist, protesting the mountaintop removal, which has the potential for devastation for the local residents. River teaches her about life in rural Kentucky, and Meena shares her story of her life living with her grandmother in India before she joined her parents and older brother in NYC years later. But living in Manhattan has issues for their family, as well. Landlords who intentionally make living there more unappealing for those under rent control laws by shutting off water, or heat add to the stress that the parents feel, which is felt by all who live there. Add the open hostility toward those who are or appear to be immigrants in both locations, and they have many stories to share. There is also the shared love of reading.
’I like that library books have secret lives. All those hands that have held them. All those eyes that have read them.’
This story is shared through the letters they send to one another over time, each revealing a little bit more as time goes by. The problems they are dealing with at home and at school, the things they love about their lives, and their frustrations, as well.
Beautifully co-written by Silas House and Neela Vaswani, this was filled with both lovely and heartbreaking moments, and was a story filled with love for all ages.
March 18, 2012
What kind of genre is necessary to demonstrate that two characters--despite their differences in nationality and identity--share some of the same celebrations? The same concerns? The same worries? The same sun?
Epistolary, of course. Correspondence between two characters is well-recognized within the canon to include classics like THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS and DADDY LONG-LEGS.
And here, Silas House and Neela Vaswani create a memorable relationship--carried by letters written back and forth--between River, a teen from Kentucky, and Meena, a young Hindi girl living in New York City. In their exchanges we see a character arc come through for each with room to grow on both sides and on the inside of both.
Aside from the letters written back and forth, River and Meena provide younger readers with information about Kentucky and New York City that would ordinarily be handled in the narrative. It's masterful here, though, with each character playing "Did you know?" with the other. An interesting inclusion that might prompt discussion in MG/YA classrooms is a section from the U. S. Citizenship Test that Meena's parents are trying to pass as part of the story.
Relationships between River and his grandmother and Meena and her older neighbor play out beautifully in the letters back and forth.
River gets a chance to talk about mining and mountain top removal. Students interested in learning more about mountain top removal might like to read the narratives collected by Silas House and Jason Howard called SOMETHING'S RISING, a powerful collection that includes Appalachian voices talking about how this system affects their everyday lives.
As a teacher consultant with The National Writing Project, I have seen many fine, fine demonstration lessons using Mark Teague's DEAR MRS. LARUE as an anchor text/read-aloud into a demonstration of letter writing as a format or means of correspondence. Many times, I have seen MG/Secondary participants in the room wondering what using this book (very nice and funny) would look like with older students. What Silas House's newest title offers is a Writer's Workshop ready text for the Middle Grade and Secondary teacher to use.
Further, introducing and sharing a book like SAME SUN HERE might bring up a sense of advocacy/agency for some young readers making this title a rigorous book for its potential affective properties.
As a "wheelhouse title," SAME SUN here provides multiple opportunities to extend invitations to readers to consider related topics making this Candlewick title a nice match for the Common Core Standards being implemented by many states:
Hindi Culture
Appalachian Culture
Mountain Top Removal
Immigration Law and U. S. Citizenship
Disasters Related to Mining
and many, many more.
I could see this title being stretched out over the course of a year with younger readers and writers hearing the story in installments which might allow for their own correspondence back and forth with River and Meena through a writing strategy called thought capture.
Epistolary, of course. Correspondence between two characters is well-recognized within the canon to include classics like THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS and DADDY LONG-LEGS.
And here, Silas House and Neela Vaswani create a memorable relationship--carried by letters written back and forth--between River, a teen from Kentucky, and Meena, a young Hindi girl living in New York City. In their exchanges we see a character arc come through for each with room to grow on both sides and on the inside of both.
Aside from the letters written back and forth, River and Meena provide younger readers with information about Kentucky and New York City that would ordinarily be handled in the narrative. It's masterful here, though, with each character playing "Did you know?" with the other. An interesting inclusion that might prompt discussion in MG/YA classrooms is a section from the U. S. Citizenship Test that Meena's parents are trying to pass as part of the story.
Relationships between River and his grandmother and Meena and her older neighbor play out beautifully in the letters back and forth.
River gets a chance to talk about mining and mountain top removal. Students interested in learning more about mountain top removal might like to read the narratives collected by Silas House and Jason Howard called SOMETHING'S RISING, a powerful collection that includes Appalachian voices talking about how this system affects their everyday lives.
As a teacher consultant with The National Writing Project, I have seen many fine, fine demonstration lessons using Mark Teague's DEAR MRS. LARUE as an anchor text/read-aloud into a demonstration of letter writing as a format or means of correspondence. Many times, I have seen MG/Secondary participants in the room wondering what using this book (very nice and funny) would look like with older students. What Silas House's newest title offers is a Writer's Workshop ready text for the Middle Grade and Secondary teacher to use.
Further, introducing and sharing a book like SAME SUN HERE might bring up a sense of advocacy/agency for some young readers making this title a rigorous book for its potential affective properties.
As a "wheelhouse title," SAME SUN here provides multiple opportunities to extend invitations to readers to consider related topics making this Candlewick title a nice match for the Common Core Standards being implemented by many states:
Hindi Culture
Appalachian Culture
Mountain Top Removal
Immigration Law and U. S. Citizenship
Disasters Related to Mining
and many, many more.
I could see this title being stretched out over the course of a year with younger readers and writers hearing the story in installments which might allow for their own correspondence back and forth with River and Meena through a writing strategy called thought capture.
December 15, 2011
This book was so special to me! Growing up and raising my own family in Eastern Kentucky, it is incredibly refreshing and encouraging to read a work that paints us as many of us are; multifaceted, empowered, passionate, and something much more than "hillbillies looking for handouts." Silas House never fails to make me feel validated each and every time I read anything he writes. This book is no different.
This is an epistolary novel, showcasing letters written between two twelve year olds that become pen-pals: River, from the Appalachian foothills of Eastern Kentucky, and Meena, an Indian immigrant living in New York City. They almost immediately make a pact to be their "own true selves" with one another, even when it's uncomfortable. In doing so, they learn so much about one another's cultures, about the wider world around them, and about how we are all not-so-different after all.
Both Meena and River are living without their fathers due to economic hardship, both have grandmothers that they idolize, and both are adolescents, just trying to figure out what's going on inside and how that impacts the way they view the world.
This book touches on so much that resonated deeply with me: the state of the precious Appalachian mountains and the plight of those that live near MTR sites, condemning racism and homophobia, having a curious mind and an open heart when learning about new cultures, and learning about the importance of non-violent civil disobedience. This book highlights the fact that sometimes it is the small, brave acts that make the biggest impact.
I can't say enough good things. Once again, Silas House has lovingly painted an accurate portrait of living in Appalachia, and Neela Vaswani has interwoven a surprisingly parallel experience as an immigrant in New York City.
My students will love this, because it is respectfully, meticulously them.
This is an epistolary novel, showcasing letters written between two twelve year olds that become pen-pals: River, from the Appalachian foothills of Eastern Kentucky, and Meena, an Indian immigrant living in New York City. They almost immediately make a pact to be their "own true selves" with one another, even when it's uncomfortable. In doing so, they learn so much about one another's cultures, about the wider world around them, and about how we are all not-so-different after all.
Both Meena and River are living without their fathers due to economic hardship, both have grandmothers that they idolize, and both are adolescents, just trying to figure out what's going on inside and how that impacts the way they view the world.
This book touches on so much that resonated deeply with me: the state of the precious Appalachian mountains and the plight of those that live near MTR sites, condemning racism and homophobia, having a curious mind and an open heart when learning about new cultures, and learning about the importance of non-violent civil disobedience. This book highlights the fact that sometimes it is the small, brave acts that make the biggest impact.
I can't say enough good things. Once again, Silas House has lovingly painted an accurate portrait of living in Appalachia, and Neela Vaswani has interwoven a surprisingly parallel experience as an immigrant in New York City.
My students will love this, because it is respectfully, meticulously them.
February 14, 2012
I'm beginning to think that I don't just occasionally enjoy middle grade books, but I might legitimately love it as a genre. I keep reading middle grade books or younger YA books that I think are the exception to the rule. But not everything can be the exception.
Same Sun Here is a delightful story, innocent and youthful. Its the tale of two pen pals. Meena was born in India but currently living in New York City. River is from rural Eastern Kentucky. (Though the county is supposedly fictionalized, it's pretty much London KY. The Dairy Dart reference gives it away).
Letters can be lovely or tedious. Same Sun Now is maybe the best pen pal story that I've ever read (at least the best in a long time). The letters feel real, using lots of exclamation points and loooooooooots of silly antics people use when writing letters, while still maintaining readability. Because of the co-authoring of this book both characters have distinct voices.
"It's weird that you are originally from the mountains, because that's where I live now. I looked up where you were born online and it's cool because the mountains there look so much like mine, with pine trees and everything. I always expected India to only have big palm trees for some reason." (River)
Meena is adorable, mixing memories of India with tales of New York City. I've never been to the city but she gives it both personality and problems. She'll talk about the subway, buying mangos on a stick from a stand, but also rent controlled apartments and evil landlords. Often I feel like New York is either idealized or criminalized in stories. This was a nice mix.
River is a country boy. His childhood sounds a bit like mine, playing in the creek, roaming the woods and climbing trees. His mamaw is a political activist, something that I think is a rarity in Kentucky. I know Silas House's politics and I feel like he's a little heavy handed with them in this novel. For me that's the biggest flaw in this book. It can't just be a cute story about two kids who find out they have more in common than different. It has to become an issue book about mountaintop removal.
I've been open about how I'm sensitive about the portrayal of Appalachians and the complicated relationship we have with coal. House does a much better job of handling the issue than the The Evening Hour (an adult novel set in WV that I recently reviewed). He at least acknowledges that within Appalachia there are two sides. But after a cursory nod to the other side, he makes his opinion very obvious.
What I like is the two characters with contrasting lives and cultures. For me that's beautiful and works so well. But near the end of the book it comes more about the issue of coal than the characters of Meena and River. Overall I liked this book. But I started out absolutely loving and my love waned. Sometimes that's the worst feeling with a book. Still it's a delightful book about two kindred spirits, finding friendship despite their differences.
On a related note this book gave me an interesting conundrum and I'm curious to see other people's opinions. Near the end there's a scene where River meets the governor of Kentucky. However, rather than using the real governors name they had a fictionalized governor. This gave me pause because the letters are dated (2008 & 2009) and it's a contemporary book set in the real world. Does this bother anyone else? It really bothered me. It felt contrived because it took me out of the story.
Same Sun Here is a delightful story, innocent and youthful. Its the tale of two pen pals. Meena was born in India but currently living in New York City. River is from rural Eastern Kentucky. (Though the county is supposedly fictionalized, it's pretty much London KY. The Dairy Dart reference gives it away).
Letters can be lovely or tedious. Same Sun Now is maybe the best pen pal story that I've ever read (at least the best in a long time). The letters feel real, using lots of exclamation points and loooooooooots of silly antics people use when writing letters, while still maintaining readability. Because of the co-authoring of this book both characters have distinct voices.
"It's weird that you are originally from the mountains, because that's where I live now. I looked up where you were born online and it's cool because the mountains there look so much like mine, with pine trees and everything. I always expected India to only have big palm trees for some reason." (River)
Meena is adorable, mixing memories of India with tales of New York City. I've never been to the city but she gives it both personality and problems. She'll talk about the subway, buying mangos on a stick from a stand, but also rent controlled apartments and evil landlords. Often I feel like New York is either idealized or criminalized in stories. This was a nice mix.
River is a country boy. His childhood sounds a bit like mine, playing in the creek, roaming the woods and climbing trees. His mamaw is a political activist, something that I think is a rarity in Kentucky. I know Silas House's politics and I feel like he's a little heavy handed with them in this novel. For me that's the biggest flaw in this book. It can't just be a cute story about two kids who find out they have more in common than different. It has to become an issue book about mountaintop removal.
I've been open about how I'm sensitive about the portrayal of Appalachians and the complicated relationship we have with coal. House does a much better job of handling the issue than the The Evening Hour (an adult novel set in WV that I recently reviewed). He at least acknowledges that within Appalachia there are two sides. But after a cursory nod to the other side, he makes his opinion very obvious.
What I like is the two characters with contrasting lives and cultures. For me that's beautiful and works so well. But near the end of the book it comes more about the issue of coal than the characters of Meena and River. Overall I liked this book. But I started out absolutely loving and my love waned. Sometimes that's the worst feeling with a book. Still it's a delightful book about two kindred spirits, finding friendship despite their differences.
On a related note this book gave me an interesting conundrum and I'm curious to see other people's opinions. Near the end there's a scene where River meets the governor of Kentucky. However, rather than using the real governors name they had a fictionalized governor. This gave me pause because the letters are dated (2008 & 2009) and it's a contemporary book set in the real world. Does this bother anyone else? It really bothered me. It felt contrived because it took me out of the story.
September 10, 2012
This was a nice book and everything, but I got crabby every time something political came up. Unfortunately, that was quite often.
I'm totally fine with lessons in social responsibility and being good to your neighbor or even references to specific historic political events, but it seemed to me that these authors had a clear political agenda. Only one end of the political spectrum was ever mentioned and it was brougt up repeatedly and only in glowing terms. I don't care what political party you belong to; it's not cool to preach politics to children via literature. It made me very uncomfortable. And the thing is, the plot of the story could have functioned perfectly well without the political posturing. There was no terribly compelling reason for it to be present other than as a sounding board for the authors' own beliefs.
Then again, maybe I'm just so sick of "listening" to my friends and family rant about politics on Facebook that my opinions on the matter are skewed.
But if you can look past the politics this is a pretty good story about two pen pals who seem very different at first but find that they actually have a lot in common. And the writing is solid, even if I don't think the characters' voices are terribly realistic for their age.
Would normally give this book 3 stars thanks to the writing, but I can't ignore my own personal dislike for the book in my rating.
I'm totally fine with lessons in social responsibility and being good to your neighbor or even references to specific historic political events, but it seemed to me that these authors had a clear political agenda. Only one end of the political spectrum was ever mentioned and it was brougt up repeatedly and only in glowing terms. I don't care what political party you belong to; it's not cool to preach politics to children via literature. It made me very uncomfortable. And the thing is, the plot of the story could have functioned perfectly well without the political posturing. There was no terribly compelling reason for it to be present other than as a sounding board for the authors' own beliefs.
Then again, maybe I'm just so sick of "listening" to my friends and family rant about politics on Facebook that my opinions on the matter are skewed.
But if you can look past the politics this is a pretty good story about two pen pals who seem very different at first but find that they actually have a lot in common. And the writing is solid, even if I don't think the characters' voices are terribly realistic for their age.
Would normally give this book 3 stars thanks to the writing, but I can't ignore my own personal dislike for the book in my rating.
September 16, 2015
Same Sun Here is a beautiful book told entirely in letters between two pen pals. It deals with some heavy social justice themes, but does so without being too heavy-handed.
This is one of those special books that hovers over the line between middle grade and young adult.
I highly recommend the audiobook. Both authors narrate and Silas House has one of the most soothing voices I have ever listened to.
This is one of those special books that hovers over the line between middle grade and young adult.
I highly recommend the audiobook. Both authors narrate and Silas House has one of the most soothing voices I have ever listened to.
June 24, 2020
Bought this for my niece's birthday, and I decided to read it myself first. It is a wonderful story! But the recommended ages are 9-12, and my neice is only turning 8. There is some politics and talk about the 12 year-old girl protagonist shaving her legs. I don't want an 8 year-old thinking about shaving her legs...
Overall, though, so good! The two authors are really able to bring their voices to the pen pals.
Overall, though, so good! The two authors are really able to bring their voices to the pen pals.
April 16, 2012
Reviewed by Jordan B. Nielsen
Recommended for: Both boys and girls ages 10 and Up for discussion of racism, troubled family life and general maturity of themes. The narrative is split between a male and female character making it relatable to either gender.
One Word Summary: Ebullient.
Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Vaswani is like a blast of air conditioning from an open door on a baking hot Manhattan day, at once refreshing, relieving, sweet and enlivening. With easy, commanding authority the authors wholly embody the voices of their two characters, far-flung pen pals River and Meena, delivering a story that wrenches the reader with its honesty, clarity and verve.
Told as a series of letters, and a few emails, Same Sun Here is the story of two utterly different lives joined by a common spirit and a class project. Twelve-year-old River Dean Justice lives in a tiny town near the mountains of Kentucky under the care of his spitfire grandmother, ‘Mawmaw’, the only liberal in the state. River’s father was laid off by the coal mining company and had to move south to find work to keep the family afloat. Soon after, River’s mother became crippled by devastating migraines which sapped her strength and her capacity to care for her son. Though he adores his Mawmaw, River longs for the time when his family was whole and everyone was happy. Thousands of miles north in New York City, Meena Joshi is an Indian immigrant squatting in a one-bedroom apartment with her parents and brother in Chinatown. Meena was also raised by her grandmother, ‘Dadi’, in a mountain town in India because her parents could only afford to bring one child to America with them. It wasn’t until Meena was ten years old that she was reunited with her parents whom she didn’t even recognize, so long had it been since she’d seen them. Now in America, Meena’s father also has to move to another state to find work.
The two are paired as pen pals in the summer of 2008, and politics are at the forefront of everyone’s minds. With the historic election of Barack Obama ahead of them, conversations about race seem to touch everyone, particularly Meena and River. Through their letters, which span the course of ten months, we learn of both the large and small-scale problems that are shaping each of their worlds. Not only is River’s home life divided, but a Mountain Top Removal project (a mining process that literally blasts off the top of a mountain to reveal coal seams) is ripping his town apart as well, physically and ideologically. Runoff from the project pollutes the rivers and jeopardizes the safety of the citizens below, but the more seismic divide erupts between those who oppose the project for its environmental hazards (like River’s Mawmaw who turns community organizer to try to stop the project) and those who support the project because it brings much needed jobs to their town.
In New York, Meena and her parents are applying for American citizenship. Though excited by the opportunities that her new country has to offer, Meena is homesick for her lush town in India, and for her grandmother who was left behind. At every turn the culture of America seems to reject her, as ignorant strangers accuse her of being a terrorist, and the hovering landlord applies cruel tactics to push her and her neighbors out of their rent controlled apartments. The moral ambiguity of being an immigrant and squatting illegally in someone else’s apartment weighs on Meena and makes it that much harder to acclimate to her new country. Even at home Meena feels out of place as she begins to question how her parents could have just left her in India for so many years.
As dramatic and fascinatingly nuanced as those plot points are, the heart of the story and what makes Same Sun Here so successful is the relationship that develops between River and Meena. Against this socio-political backdrop, they are just two kids trying to figure it all out. Each feels like an outsider in their own way, but through their letters they find commonality in their shared curiosity about one another and the world around them. We can be our “true selves” with one another, Meena and River continually say. There is a naïve purity to their interactions that is truly beautiful to experience as they question and learn from one another, free from judgment. Well, nearly free from judgment. Meena does attempt to tell River about the first time she shaved her legs which River was none to thrilled to read about, a segment that elicits some good laughs.
As letters, the story is obviously written in the first person, alternating between the two perspectives and the authors must be commended for the voicing of the two characters, which are richly real and never falter. These feel like letters from children, full of poor grammar and slang and the kind of well-meaning bluntness you can only find in people of this age. I’m unaware of how the authors worked together to create this story, I’d imagine that Neela Vaswani wrote the letters from Meena, and Silas House wrote River’s (but gee wouldn’t it be neat if the opposite were true?) but whatever the process, it’s the truth in the voicing that really wins the book.
An instant entrant into our Golden Key Collection, Same Sun Here is a celebration of our diversity and the human capacity to find commonality over any divide. A story infused with hope and wonderment that’s sure to be a shoe-in for some big awards this season, Same Sun Here is a true delight that’s not to be missed.
For more reviews, author interviews, reading lists, and feature articles from The Rusty Key, visit us at www.therustykey.com
Recommended for: Both boys and girls ages 10 and Up for discussion of racism, troubled family life and general maturity of themes. The narrative is split between a male and female character making it relatable to either gender.
One Word Summary: Ebullient.
Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Vaswani is like a blast of air conditioning from an open door on a baking hot Manhattan day, at once refreshing, relieving, sweet and enlivening. With easy, commanding authority the authors wholly embody the voices of their two characters, far-flung pen pals River and Meena, delivering a story that wrenches the reader with its honesty, clarity and verve.
Told as a series of letters, and a few emails, Same Sun Here is the story of two utterly different lives joined by a common spirit and a class project. Twelve-year-old River Dean Justice lives in a tiny town near the mountains of Kentucky under the care of his spitfire grandmother, ‘Mawmaw’, the only liberal in the state. River’s father was laid off by the coal mining company and had to move south to find work to keep the family afloat. Soon after, River’s mother became crippled by devastating migraines which sapped her strength and her capacity to care for her son. Though he adores his Mawmaw, River longs for the time when his family was whole and everyone was happy. Thousands of miles north in New York City, Meena Joshi is an Indian immigrant squatting in a one-bedroom apartment with her parents and brother in Chinatown. Meena was also raised by her grandmother, ‘Dadi’, in a mountain town in India because her parents could only afford to bring one child to America with them. It wasn’t until Meena was ten years old that she was reunited with her parents whom she didn’t even recognize, so long had it been since she’d seen them. Now in America, Meena’s father also has to move to another state to find work.
The two are paired as pen pals in the summer of 2008, and politics are at the forefront of everyone’s minds. With the historic election of Barack Obama ahead of them, conversations about race seem to touch everyone, particularly Meena and River. Through their letters, which span the course of ten months, we learn of both the large and small-scale problems that are shaping each of their worlds. Not only is River’s home life divided, but a Mountain Top Removal project (a mining process that literally blasts off the top of a mountain to reveal coal seams) is ripping his town apart as well, physically and ideologically. Runoff from the project pollutes the rivers and jeopardizes the safety of the citizens below, but the more seismic divide erupts between those who oppose the project for its environmental hazards (like River’s Mawmaw who turns community organizer to try to stop the project) and those who support the project because it brings much needed jobs to their town.
In New York, Meena and her parents are applying for American citizenship. Though excited by the opportunities that her new country has to offer, Meena is homesick for her lush town in India, and for her grandmother who was left behind. At every turn the culture of America seems to reject her, as ignorant strangers accuse her of being a terrorist, and the hovering landlord applies cruel tactics to push her and her neighbors out of their rent controlled apartments. The moral ambiguity of being an immigrant and squatting illegally in someone else’s apartment weighs on Meena and makes it that much harder to acclimate to her new country. Even at home Meena feels out of place as she begins to question how her parents could have just left her in India for so many years.
As dramatic and fascinatingly nuanced as those plot points are, the heart of the story and what makes Same Sun Here so successful is the relationship that develops between River and Meena. Against this socio-political backdrop, they are just two kids trying to figure it all out. Each feels like an outsider in their own way, but through their letters they find commonality in their shared curiosity about one another and the world around them. We can be our “true selves” with one another, Meena and River continually say. There is a naïve purity to their interactions that is truly beautiful to experience as they question and learn from one another, free from judgment. Well, nearly free from judgment. Meena does attempt to tell River about the first time she shaved her legs which River was none to thrilled to read about, a segment that elicits some good laughs.
As letters, the story is obviously written in the first person, alternating between the two perspectives and the authors must be commended for the voicing of the two characters, which are richly real and never falter. These feel like letters from children, full of poor grammar and slang and the kind of well-meaning bluntness you can only find in people of this age. I’m unaware of how the authors worked together to create this story, I’d imagine that Neela Vaswani wrote the letters from Meena, and Silas House wrote River’s (but gee wouldn’t it be neat if the opposite were true?) but whatever the process, it’s the truth in the voicing that really wins the book.
An instant entrant into our Golden Key Collection, Same Sun Here is a celebration of our diversity and the human capacity to find commonality over any divide. A story infused with hope and wonderment that’s sure to be a shoe-in for some big awards this season, Same Sun Here is a true delight that’s not to be missed.
For more reviews, author interviews, reading lists, and feature articles from The Rusty Key, visit us at www.therustykey.com
March 23, 2020
I absolutely loved this book. Deals with some very heavy issues in a sensitive, honest manner. The protagonists and their unique friendship came alive so vibrantly with each letter they exchanged. Highly recommend.
cw: racism, ecological violence, anti-immigrant oppression, classism
cw: racism, ecological violence, anti-immigrant oppression, classism
June 26, 2015
Every once in a great while I find cause to pick up a book I know little to nothing about and am fortunate enough to be utterly charmed. Same Sun Here was one of two Audie nominees for Middle Graders that I was unfamiliar with, and yet I am happy to see it in such good company. For some inexplicable reason, I have shied away from doing epistolary novels via audio. After listening to the absolute joy that was Same Sun Here, I’m putting all epistolary reads in my TBR into my TBLT (to-be-listened-to) pile, because clearly two formats could not be more perfectly married. Of course a book featuring letters sent back and forth between two young people would be best told audibly by two narrators.
Yes, I am assuming this book has some physical formatting one misses when listening to it rather than reading the physical copy–there is poetry, and I am also assuming the written letters are “written” and the typed letters are “typed”, particularly since the matter of writing is actually discussed. But, what you loose in visual formatting you gain in audible; each of the authors is able to perfectly embody the characters they narrate, Neela Vaswani capturing young Meena with her Indian-born English, and Silas House bringing River to life, a boy from the mountains of Kentucky. The way each talks is such an important facet of the story and overcoming assumptions that being able to hear how these characters talk affects the story more deeply than seeing their writing ever could.
And thus, we must talk about the story. Same Sun Here captures the unique lives of two young people who have, through school programs, become pen-palls. Old-school letter writing pen-pals in a day and age when e-mail would be the go-to route for almost every child. Their choice to sit down and write (or type) letters that are sent through the post immediately clues us into the reality that Meena and River are not your average American tweens. The two form a bond of friendship in which they declare they are their “own true selves”, sharing their fears, hopes, and even the ugly and presumptive thoughts we all sometimes have.
Meena’s story captures the immigrant experience, as a young girl whose parents left her with her grandmother in the mountains of India while they migrated with her brother to the United States. They has assumed they’d be leaving her for only a short while, but it turned into six years before they were able to bring her to join them in NYC. Consequently, there is a bit of a riff in her family, who are studying to become American while living illegally in a rent-controlled apartment in Chinatown. River is the son of a coal miner, and he and Meena bond over the fact that both their fathers live away from their families in order to provide for their families–Meena’s father working at a catering hall in New Jersey, River’s father working in the Gulf. River is concerned with mining practices in his area and the affects they have on the environment, and is feeling stifled in an area where traits like racism and close-mindedness are prevalent.
Same Sun Here is one of those rare books that manages to carry meaningful messages without the frying pan affect. While at times it skirted the edge of being too political for me, I felt the authors did an excellent job of focusing on issues that transcend one’s particular politics–not judging someone because of their accent, appearance, religion, sexual preference, etc., the value of family and friends, respecting one’s parents, learning to stand on one’s own and fight for what you believe in. The political beliefs of the authors are obvious, but they do attempt to show that there are various sides to the issues raised (most predominantly coal mining, but also issues like immigration), which I appreciate. Quite frankly, Same Sun Here is a story that could influence the lives of countless readers for the better. It promotes the notion of opening your heart and mind to those who live differently from yourself, reminding us that we are all, when you get to the heart of it, just people.
Original review posted at Bunbury in the Stacks.
Yes, I am assuming this book has some physical formatting one misses when listening to it rather than reading the physical copy–there is poetry, and I am also assuming the written letters are “written” and the typed letters are “typed”, particularly since the matter of writing is actually discussed. But, what you loose in visual formatting you gain in audible; each of the authors is able to perfectly embody the characters they narrate, Neela Vaswani capturing young Meena with her Indian-born English, and Silas House bringing River to life, a boy from the mountains of Kentucky. The way each talks is such an important facet of the story and overcoming assumptions that being able to hear how these characters talk affects the story more deeply than seeing their writing ever could.
And thus, we must talk about the story. Same Sun Here captures the unique lives of two young people who have, through school programs, become pen-palls. Old-school letter writing pen-pals in a day and age when e-mail would be the go-to route for almost every child. Their choice to sit down and write (or type) letters that are sent through the post immediately clues us into the reality that Meena and River are not your average American tweens. The two form a bond of friendship in which they declare they are their “own true selves”, sharing their fears, hopes, and even the ugly and presumptive thoughts we all sometimes have.
Meena’s story captures the immigrant experience, as a young girl whose parents left her with her grandmother in the mountains of India while they migrated with her brother to the United States. They has assumed they’d be leaving her for only a short while, but it turned into six years before they were able to bring her to join them in NYC. Consequently, there is a bit of a riff in her family, who are studying to become American while living illegally in a rent-controlled apartment in Chinatown. River is the son of a coal miner, and he and Meena bond over the fact that both their fathers live away from their families in order to provide for their families–Meena’s father working at a catering hall in New Jersey, River’s father working in the Gulf. River is concerned with mining practices in his area and the affects they have on the environment, and is feeling stifled in an area where traits like racism and close-mindedness are prevalent.
Same Sun Here is one of those rare books that manages to carry meaningful messages without the frying pan affect. While at times it skirted the edge of being too political for me, I felt the authors did an excellent job of focusing on issues that transcend one’s particular politics–not judging someone because of their accent, appearance, religion, sexual preference, etc., the value of family and friends, respecting one’s parents, learning to stand on one’s own and fight for what you believe in. The political beliefs of the authors are obvious, but they do attempt to show that there are various sides to the issues raised (most predominantly coal mining, but also issues like immigration), which I appreciate. Quite frankly, Same Sun Here is a story that could influence the lives of countless readers for the better. It promotes the notion of opening your heart and mind to those who live differently from yourself, reminding us that we are all, when you get to the heart of it, just people.
Original review posted at Bunbury in the Stacks.
December 31, 2016
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
Like Dear Mr. Henshaw and P.S. Longer Letter Later, Same Sun Here is an epistolary novel set in 2008, which is told entirely in correspondence between two randomly assigned pen pals - Meena, an Indian immigrant living in New York City, and River, who lives in Kentucky, where his father is a coal miner. Though different in many ways, Meena and River find that living beneath the same sun gives them lots in common - including their love for their grandmothers, their love of writing, and their willingness to open their lives to one another. River turns to Meena for support when mountaintop removal threatens his hometown, and Meena, in turn, confides in River about her family’s illegal living arrangement and their efforts to become citizens. Ultimately, though they never meet face to face in the book, the two become best friends, demonstrating the ideal that our differences can bring us together rather than keep us apart.
For the most part, reading this book was really enjoyable. I have always loved stories told through documents and letters, and I like the deep level of character development that comes from this format. The characters know nothing about each other, so every letter gives a little more insight into their unique personalities, which helps the reader get to know them, too. I also learned a lot about immigrant culture in New York, rent control, mountaintop removal, Appalachian culture, and Indian language, food, and customs. It was interesting to see how the introduction of each new idea helped to shape and reshape Meena’s opinion of River, and his of her.
My criticism, though, is that this happens too easily. Meena and River are at times irritatingly good kids, whose minds are always open, and whose every mistake is immediately corrected. At times, they do fight in their letters, but they are both portrayed as so level-headed that it doesn’t take much time - at least not in the narrative- for their friendship to bounce back. I also had a hard time understanding why they thought of each other as best friends so quickly. I thought part of the point of the story was going to be that over time, two different kids can become best friends because they come to a mutual understanding of each other’s backgrounds and beliefs. Instead, that close friendship came on suddenly, and the deeper level of understanding came later on. That just seemed somehow backward to me.
The value of the story, though, is that it undermines the instant gratification of modern technology and argues for the relevance of writing meaningful messages to one another and waiting anxiously for the replies. In a world where friends text more than they talk face to face, it’s important for kids to see the importance of those deeper conversations that bring unlikely pairs closer together and help each of us understand, on the larger scale, how we’re all connected by our experiences as humans.
This book obviously has an agenda and a particular political point of view, which promotes activism, criticizes government, and laments society’s unfairness toward marginalized groups. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that except that sometimes - especially in the latter half of the book - the agenda overpowers the story. River performs an act of defiance that puts him suddenly in the spotlight in a way I found irritating, and from then on, his story takes center stage, while Meena’s ends uncertainly and without fully satisfying the reader’s curiosity.
Despite these flaws, though, I think the book is very thought-provoking and will start up a lot of wonderful conversations for classes, book clubs, and families who read it as a group. If nothing else, it drives home the point that none of us is so different that we can’t make a connection, if only our minds and hearts are open to reaching mutual understanding and respect.
Like Dear Mr. Henshaw and P.S. Longer Letter Later, Same Sun Here is an epistolary novel set in 2008, which is told entirely in correspondence between two randomly assigned pen pals - Meena, an Indian immigrant living in New York City, and River, who lives in Kentucky, where his father is a coal miner. Though different in many ways, Meena and River find that living beneath the same sun gives them lots in common - including their love for their grandmothers, their love of writing, and their willingness to open their lives to one another. River turns to Meena for support when mountaintop removal threatens his hometown, and Meena, in turn, confides in River about her family’s illegal living arrangement and their efforts to become citizens. Ultimately, though they never meet face to face in the book, the two become best friends, demonstrating the ideal that our differences can bring us together rather than keep us apart.
For the most part, reading this book was really enjoyable. I have always loved stories told through documents and letters, and I like the deep level of character development that comes from this format. The characters know nothing about each other, so every letter gives a little more insight into their unique personalities, which helps the reader get to know them, too. I also learned a lot about immigrant culture in New York, rent control, mountaintop removal, Appalachian culture, and Indian language, food, and customs. It was interesting to see how the introduction of each new idea helped to shape and reshape Meena’s opinion of River, and his of her.
My criticism, though, is that this happens too easily. Meena and River are at times irritatingly good kids, whose minds are always open, and whose every mistake is immediately corrected. At times, they do fight in their letters, but they are both portrayed as so level-headed that it doesn’t take much time - at least not in the narrative- for their friendship to bounce back. I also had a hard time understanding why they thought of each other as best friends so quickly. I thought part of the point of the story was going to be that over time, two different kids can become best friends because they come to a mutual understanding of each other’s backgrounds and beliefs. Instead, that close friendship came on suddenly, and the deeper level of understanding came later on. That just seemed somehow backward to me.
The value of the story, though, is that it undermines the instant gratification of modern technology and argues for the relevance of writing meaningful messages to one another and waiting anxiously for the replies. In a world where friends text more than they talk face to face, it’s important for kids to see the importance of those deeper conversations that bring unlikely pairs closer together and help each of us understand, on the larger scale, how we’re all connected by our experiences as humans.
This book obviously has an agenda and a particular political point of view, which promotes activism, criticizes government, and laments society’s unfairness toward marginalized groups. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that except that sometimes - especially in the latter half of the book - the agenda overpowers the story. River performs an act of defiance that puts him suddenly in the spotlight in a way I found irritating, and from then on, his story takes center stage, while Meena’s ends uncertainly and without fully satisfying the reader’s curiosity.
Despite these flaws, though, I think the book is very thought-provoking and will start up a lot of wonderful conversations for classes, book clubs, and families who read it as a group. If nothing else, it drives home the point that none of us is so different that we can’t make a connection, if only our minds and hearts are open to reaching mutual understanding and respect.
October 28, 2019
Co-authors Silas House and Neela Vaswani join forces in this epistolary middle-grade novel, exploring, through their characters' correspondence with one another, the differences and commonalities in the lives of a Kentucky coal-miner's son and the daughter of recent Indian immigrants, studying to become citizens in New York City. Although River Dean Justice and Meena Joshi come from different places, and lead very different lives, they also share many of the same experiences, from coping with the absence of a father, whose work has taken him far away, to feeling just a little bit out-of-step with those around them. When tragedy strikes in both of their lives, their letters to one another provide an avenue for expression, and their strong friendship an important source of strength.
Chosen as our September selection over in The Children's Fiction Book-Club to which I belong, Same Sun Here touches upon many important themes, from family relationships and the stresses put upon those relationships by separation, to environmental stewardship and the terrible consequences when people ignore their responsibility of care, for both earth and people. Unlike some readers, I really appreciated the fact that politics, whether one defines that in terms of elections or of personal activism, was featured so prominently here. Children, after all, live in the same political world as the rest of us, and are affected by many of the same economic and social factors as adults, so it was good to see some recent issues - the 2008 presidential election, mountain top removal coal-mining in Appalachia, rent-control and abusive landlords in New York City - being depicted in a book intended for them. I also really appreciated the format of the book itself, and think that having two different authors pen the two protagonists' letters was an inspired choice, leading to believably different voices for River and Meena.
All in all, this was a strong book, one with engaging characters and an always interesting, often poignant story. I came away with a desire to read more by both authors.
Chosen as our September selection over in The Children's Fiction Book-Club to which I belong, Same Sun Here touches upon many important themes, from family relationships and the stresses put upon those relationships by separation, to environmental stewardship and the terrible consequences when people ignore their responsibility of care, for both earth and people. Unlike some readers, I really appreciated the fact that politics, whether one defines that in terms of elections or of personal activism, was featured so prominently here. Children, after all, live in the same political world as the rest of us, and are affected by many of the same economic and social factors as adults, so it was good to see some recent issues - the 2008 presidential election, mountain top removal coal-mining in Appalachia, rent-control and abusive landlords in New York City - being depicted in a book intended for them. I also really appreciated the format of the book itself, and think that having two different authors pen the two protagonists' letters was an inspired choice, leading to believably different voices for River and Meena.
All in all, this was a strong book, one with engaging characters and an always interesting, often poignant story. I came away with a desire to read more by both authors.
April 17, 2020
This YA book is very well done, and uses an interesting premise. It has two authors, each of whom writes the letters between fictional penpals. One is a girl, a recent immigrant from India living in New York City, and the other is a boy in rural Kentucky. So right off the bat you have the juxtaposition of two very different people, always a good plot format.
There are lots of important issues addressed here: environmentalism, immigration, family struggles, poverty, prejudice, and the expected problems of being a tween anywhere in modern-day America. It's fun to watch the friendship develop between the pen pals, and see how they are able to support each other through life's difficulties. The plot rolls out effortlessly, and kept me turning the pages.
Both kids are unusually articulate and expressive for their age, which no doubt the authors had to do for literary quality. But there were places where I wondered whether kids this age would really write in such a way to one another. That's okay, though. I enjoyed the read, and recommend it, especially for young people who lead rather insular lives, and who would benefit from learning about both the immigrant and the Appalachian experience.
A few things I especially enjoyed in the book were (a) the way that both protagonists were unusually close with their grandmothers -- a lovely element; (b) exposure to mountaintop mining practices, something I hadn't previously known about; (c) comments about why it is considered indelicate for girls to talk about physical things (shaving legs, in this instance), and yet boys can talk about farts, etc. Yet another aspect of feminism that I had failed to consider previously, given the era I grew up in.
Also, bravo to two authors who collaborate and made it work so well.
There are lots of important issues addressed here: environmentalism, immigration, family struggles, poverty, prejudice, and the expected problems of being a tween anywhere in modern-day America. It's fun to watch the friendship develop between the pen pals, and see how they are able to support each other through life's difficulties. The plot rolls out effortlessly, and kept me turning the pages.
Both kids are unusually articulate and expressive for their age, which no doubt the authors had to do for literary quality. But there were places where I wondered whether kids this age would really write in such a way to one another. That's okay, though. I enjoyed the read, and recommend it, especially for young people who lead rather insular lives, and who would benefit from learning about both the immigrant and the Appalachian experience.
A few things I especially enjoyed in the book were (a) the way that both protagonists were unusually close with their grandmothers -- a lovely element; (b) exposure to mountaintop mining practices, something I hadn't previously known about; (c) comments about why it is considered indelicate for girls to talk about physical things (shaving legs, in this instance), and yet boys can talk about farts, etc. Yet another aspect of feminism that I had failed to consider previously, given the era I grew up in.
Also, bravo to two authors who collaborate and made it work so well.
June 4, 2017
Sweet and heartwarming while delivering several important messages. Two twelve-year-olds bridge their very different worlds as pen pals: Meena, an immigrant girl from India living in New York City, and River, the son of a coal miner in eastern Kentucky. It's categorized as a middle school book but older teens and adults will like it as well. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
May 16, 2022
first 100 pages: 3
last 200 pages: 4
epistolary novel
The letters seem too sophisticated to be written by 12-year-old kids, but once I focused on the story instead of the style, I enjoyed the book. Tackles quite a few heavy topics.
p 103: He's just stupid. Ignorant people don't know any better, but stupid people WANT to be stupid.
quite a few references to specific books and songs
last 200 pages: 4
epistolary novel
The letters seem too sophisticated to be written by 12-year-old kids, but once I focused on the story instead of the style, I enjoyed the book. Tackles quite a few heavy topics.
p 103: He's just stupid. Ignorant people don't know any better, but stupid people WANT to be stupid.
quite a few references to specific books and songs
April 17, 2017
This is an adorable little epistolary novel, and a quick read. 12 year old Meena, an Indian immigrant girl living in NYC, becomes pen pals with River, a boy from Kentucky. I can't remember who recommended this little middle grade novel (probably Book Riot) but I'm glad I picked it up.
for the 2017 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge
read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative
for the 2017 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge
read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative
April 28, 2019
Made me want to write letters. Man do I miss KY.
November 23, 2018
Amazing and funny and uplifting, despite some tough situations. I would like to give this book as a gift.
September 17, 2012
From the publisher:
Meena and River have a lot in common: fathers forced to work away from home to make ends meet, grandmothers who mean the world to them, and faithful dogs. But Meena is an Indian girl living in New York City's Chinatown, while River is a Kentucky coal miner's son. As Meena's family studies for citizenship exams and River's town faces devastating mountaintop removal, this unlikely pair become pen pals, sharing thoughts and, as their camaraderie deepens, discovering common ground in their disparate experiences.
With honesty and humor, Meena and River bridge the miles between them, creating a friendship that inspires bravery and defeats cultural misconceptions. Narrated in two voices, each voice distinctly articulated by a separate gifted author, this chronicle of two lives powerfully conveys the great value of being and having a friend and the joys of opening our lives to others who live beneath the same sun.
In this extraordinary novel in two voices, an Indian immigrant girl in New York City and a Kentucky coal miner's son find strength and perspective by sharing their true selves across the miles.
My Thoughts:
In a world that has become suspicious of those who don't look like ourselves, Same Sun Here is a refreshing look at what can be - that as we get to know other, who were are inside takes precedence over what we look like. What an important lesson Meena and River teach us.
Written in epistolary form, the novel enables the to experience these two different characters simultaneously, as they get to know and trust each other. Here are two kids, both of whom do not have personal computers at their disposal, which alone tells something of their economic circumstances, and they must rely on good old fashion letter writing, at least most of the time. They do resort to email exchanged from a school and public library computer as the story progresses and their lives head in crisis mode.
Right from the start, pen-pals Meena and River agree to be their own true self with each other in their letters. As they write back and forth, and get to know each other better, this agreement sometimes leads to arguments, soul-bearing and the start of a deepening friendship. And eventually, Meena and River are comfortable enough with each other to reveal their inner most thoughts, hopes, dreams and fears in their letters, thing that they may never have said face to face to anyone else.
The letter writing format allows the kids to cover a diverse number of topics, including economic hardship, political decisions, and bigotry and to talk about the direct impact they have on the lives of Meena and River's families. And it allows for an exploration of cultural differences in a very frank, but sensitive way. As each child reveals more and more about their life, they are able to give each other the emotional support they both need so badly during what turns out to be such a transitional year for both of them.
Same Sun Here is a well-written novel. The language is clear and age appropriate, the characters well-developed and believable. Unfamiliar terms that are specific to their different lives are defined in the course of the letters, so the reader never has to wonder what, for instance, mountaintop removal is and why it puts people out of work.
I felt a special connection to and understanding of this book thanks to authors Silas House and Neela Vaswani. On the one hand, like Meena, I grew up in NYC and recognize some of the things she faced in the novel, like rent control and greedy landlords. On the other hand, Silas House is an associate professor at Berea College. My Baugh family comes from Berea and more than one of them graduated from Beara College. So, aside that it is such a well done story, how could I not love this book?
I am sincerely hoping there will be a sequel to Same Sun Here. I would really like to find out what happens to Meena and River next.
This book is recommended for reader age 10+
This book was borrowed from the library.
Meena and River have a lot in common: fathers forced to work away from home to make ends meet, grandmothers who mean the world to them, and faithful dogs. But Meena is an Indian girl living in New York City's Chinatown, while River is a Kentucky coal miner's son. As Meena's family studies for citizenship exams and River's town faces devastating mountaintop removal, this unlikely pair become pen pals, sharing thoughts and, as their camaraderie deepens, discovering common ground in their disparate experiences.
With honesty and humor, Meena and River bridge the miles between them, creating a friendship that inspires bravery and defeats cultural misconceptions. Narrated in two voices, each voice distinctly articulated by a separate gifted author, this chronicle of two lives powerfully conveys the great value of being and having a friend and the joys of opening our lives to others who live beneath the same sun.
In this extraordinary novel in two voices, an Indian immigrant girl in New York City and a Kentucky coal miner's son find strength and perspective by sharing their true selves across the miles.
My Thoughts:
In a world that has become suspicious of those who don't look like ourselves, Same Sun Here is a refreshing look at what can be - that as we get to know other, who were are inside takes precedence over what we look like. What an important lesson Meena and River teach us.
Written in epistolary form, the novel enables the to experience these two different characters simultaneously, as they get to know and trust each other. Here are two kids, both of whom do not have personal computers at their disposal, which alone tells something of their economic circumstances, and they must rely on good old fashion letter writing, at least most of the time. They do resort to email exchanged from a school and public library computer as the story progresses and their lives head in crisis mode.
Right from the start, pen-pals Meena and River agree to be their own true self with each other in their letters. As they write back and forth, and get to know each other better, this agreement sometimes leads to arguments, soul-bearing and the start of a deepening friendship. And eventually, Meena and River are comfortable enough with each other to reveal their inner most thoughts, hopes, dreams and fears in their letters, thing that they may never have said face to face to anyone else.
The letter writing format allows the kids to cover a diverse number of topics, including economic hardship, political decisions, and bigotry and to talk about the direct impact they have on the lives of Meena and River's families. And it allows for an exploration of cultural differences in a very frank, but sensitive way. As each child reveals more and more about their life, they are able to give each other the emotional support they both need so badly during what turns out to be such a transitional year for both of them.
Same Sun Here is a well-written novel. The language is clear and age appropriate, the characters well-developed and believable. Unfamiliar terms that are specific to their different lives are defined in the course of the letters, so the reader never has to wonder what, for instance, mountaintop removal is and why it puts people out of work.
I felt a special connection to and understanding of this book thanks to authors Silas House and Neela Vaswani. On the one hand, like Meena, I grew up in NYC and recognize some of the things she faced in the novel, like rent control and greedy landlords. On the other hand, Silas House is an associate professor at Berea College. My Baugh family comes from Berea and more than one of them graduated from Beara College. So, aside that it is such a well done story, how could I not love this book?
I am sincerely hoping there will be a sequel to Same Sun Here. I would really like to find out what happens to Meena and River next.
This book is recommended for reader age 10+
This book was borrowed from the library.
September 30, 2014
Same Sun Here is an enjoyable book to read. I felt like I was part of a long distance conversation between two middle schoolers. The two children are pen pals--one a girl named Meena, the other a boy named River. Meena is originally from India, but is living in a rent-controlled apartment in New York. River is a boy who lives in Kentucky in the Appalachian Mountains by mining country. The children write back and forth--each chapter is a new letter from one of them. They occasionally email one another or write a postcard or two, but most of the correspondence is old-fashioned snail mail--a lost form of art, I think. It's interesting to get the students' perspectives on their lives in America. Many things parallel one another, but many things are completely different. One thing they have in common is that both of their fathers have to work at jobs that are far away from the family homes. They only see their dads on occasional visits. Meena and River agree to always tell one another the truth and to keep one another's secrets. It's very endearing that they call one another "best friend," even though they've never met face-to-face. Same Sun Here is an authentic piece. The part written from River's perspective was written by Silas House who is a native of Kentucky, and the part written from Meen'as perspective was written by Neela Vaswani, who is of Indian heritage, but currently lives in New York City. The wonderful details of the children's lives is genuine because the authors share the characters' backgrounds and experiences. These two authors worked well together to make a book that causes the reader to reflect on issues of race, ethnicity, and even preserving our environment. Great read!
--Barb Zachwieja
--Barb Zachwieja
October 8, 2012
Meena and River are pen pals. Meena is an Indian girl living in New York City. She is living in a rent controlled apartment with her mom and brother and a next door neighbor Mrs. Lau and Mrs. Lau's dog Cuba. Her father is a chef and only gets to come home on occasional weekends. The family is trying to become naturalized citizens. River is a boy living in Kentucky. He lives with his MawMaw (grandma) and mom. His dad couldn't find a job in their town so he is working in a bigger city and comes home to visit when he can. River's grandma and River are very concerned about the mountaintop removal, a type of mining, that is happening near their home and that is polluting their river. Both Meena and River have challenges and both have courage. They become best friends and share their fears, frustrations, and triumphs with each other through their letters.
I found this book really enjoyable to read and valuable. I really appreciated it being told through letters from the perspective of both a boy and girl. I appreciated that they learn not to judge others as they get to know each other...they come to see that despite their different backgrounds, they have a lot in common. I like how brave River was when he and his family fought to stop the mountaintop removal...I loved his peaceful confrontation with the governor. There is a definite environmental message in the book, but it wasn't too didactic. I liked that Meena included some of the questions that her family had to answer to become citizens and she talked a little about the difficulties they experienced as an immigrant.
Really liked this book.
I found this book really enjoyable to read and valuable. I really appreciated it being told through letters from the perspective of both a boy and girl. I appreciated that they learn not to judge others as they get to know each other...they come to see that despite their different backgrounds, they have a lot in common. I like how brave River was when he and his family fought to stop the mountaintop removal...I loved his peaceful confrontation with the governor. There is a definite environmental message in the book, but it wasn't too didactic. I liked that Meena included some of the questions that her family had to answer to become citizens and she talked a little about the difficulties they experienced as an immigrant.
Really liked this book.
August 23, 2021
Pen-pals River and Meena reveal their "own true selves" to each other through the letters they write, their friendship slowly develops as they share their hopes and frustrations, discovering how much they are alike despite their differences. Meena has just moved to New York City from India, while River has lived all his life in a small coal-mining town in Kentucky. They both have been raised by their grandmothers for much of their lives, and they both love the mountains-- River loves the Appalachian Mountains, and Meena misses the mountains in Mussoorie, India. I especially appreciate the way that they encourage each other, as River becomes an environmental activist protesting coal mining in his community, and Meena joins her school's theater program.
Their honesty and sincerity especially comes through in the audiobook, as you can hear River and Meena's emotions and accents. Silas House and Neela Vaswani actually became pen-pals as they wrote this book, writing letters and mailing them back and forth to each other. Although River and Meena are fictional characters, they are closely tied to the authors. The fact that the authors narrate the audiobook makes it even more powerful.
Their honesty and sincerity especially comes through in the audiobook, as you can hear River and Meena's emotions and accents. Silas House and Neela Vaswani actually became pen-pals as they wrote this book, writing letters and mailing them back and forth to each other. Although River and Meena are fictional characters, they are closely tied to the authors. The fact that the authors narrate the audiobook makes it even more powerful.
February 3, 2017
If you liked this book, you might also enjoy:
✱ Home of the Brave
✱ Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms
✱ What the Moon Said
✱ Inside Out & Back Again
✱ Little Bee
✱ Home of the Brave
✱ Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms
✱ What the Moon Said
✱ Inside Out & Back Again
✱ Little Bee
January 17, 2012
Same Sun Here is a thought-provoking novel that will lead to amazing discussions about the environment, immigrants, unlikely friendships, politics, and so much more. I'm having a difficult time "assigning" it an interest level. Maybe grades 6 and up? Maybe grades 7 and up? I think it really depends on the reader.
May 15, 2012
It's hard to imagine kids being pen pals these days but they both seem to enjoy exchanging lengthy letters with one another. This story grew on me. The main characters are interesting and the voices are unique. The people in the girl's life are more vividly realized. There's lots in this story to discuss. A good book for class or small group reading.
October 25, 2020
This book was trash lmao so boring don’t recommend i mean i do recommend it if you wanna sleep or whateva i guess cuz it’s so boring it’s gonna make you wanna sleep and the only reason it gets sells is because people read it for school cuz they wanna torture us by making us read boring books >:(
April 21, 2012
voices felt real but agenda driven
June 17, 2017
Beautifully written epistolary book told spot-on in two voices. Two kids with seemingly nothing in common discover throughout the course of a year that their sun is the same.
Reviews place this book in kids' hands beginning in fourth grade, but I'm not sure. The shaving, the bit about a boy vs. girl kissing, and a handful of colorful words are making me think otherwise.
I'm searching for a handful of books that might lend themselves to rich discussion in lit. circles.
As an aside, while I love how authors put book titles in their own books, if it happens so much it begins to feel too purposeful.
Lastly, can I just say how much I adore Silas House's writing? Eli the Good---go read it. ❤
"When I returned the book to the library, I thought about how maybe someone else will cry over it, too. I like that library books have secret lives. All those hands that have held them. All those eyes that have read them."
Reviews place this book in kids' hands beginning in fourth grade, but I'm not sure. The shaving, the bit about a boy vs. girl kissing, and a handful of colorful words are making me think otherwise.
I'm searching for a handful of books that might lend themselves to rich discussion in lit. circles.
As an aside, while I love how authors put book titles in their own books, if it happens so much it begins to feel too purposeful.
Lastly, can I just say how much I adore Silas House's writing? Eli the Good---go read it. ❤
"When I returned the book to the library, I thought about how maybe someone else will cry over it, too. I like that library books have secret lives. All those hands that have held them. All those eyes that have read them."
May 20, 2021
I loved this book so much. Being from Kentucky, I resonated with the character, River. I think this story is so important to read. We are all under “the same sun” and are more alike than we think. This was a quick read that will stay with me.
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