Read Women discussion

From Fab Book Reviews:

"Stargazing thoughtfully speaks to bigger subjects such as socioeconomic differences, Chinese American identity, and familial expectations, though the core of the story arguably rests in the magic and complications that intense new friendship can bring. Christine and Moon are beautifully drawn out and developed characters (making the quick turn of Moon’s emergency situation all the more palpable and heart-rending). Wang’s illustrations are sublime- expressive, clear and extremely appealing- and the storytelling is just so good here: managing multiple directions and levels of storyline, tender subject matter and mystery with humour and lots of heart."

It was nominated for the Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature (2020) and won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for Children's Literature (2020)

Great interview with the author on her inspiration for the book can be found here: https://iexaminer.org/jen-wang-shares...

Happy Reading!

I'm excited about this one- should be a nice balance to heavier reading.
Actually I started last night. It's a perfect little escape as I'm surrounded by my husband's German family for Easter weekend whose conversation I often can't follow cuz my German's not good enough. Keeping myself entertained amid the family time chaos with this one...
And- fun surprise for me- I know the colorist Lark Pien from my San Francisco days about 20 years ago! Looking forward to enjoying her work through this reading and feeling something of a connection to her again.

I've finished this and loved it, really nicely done. Look forward to hearing people's thoughts.

I read this today and like Alwynne, loved it. I went into a tiny bit of a rant in my review. This book has been challenged and removed from the shelves of the schools in Orange County, Florida in order to comply with Florida law.

Link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Gail W wrote: "I read this today and like Alwynne, loved it. I went into a tiny bit of a rant in my review. This book has been challenged and removed from the shelves of the schools in Orange County, Florida in o..."

A ban seems so weird, it'd be interesting to know what the argument for that was.

I particularly enjoyed the way Wang plays with then undermines 'good immigrant' stereotypes here. I also liked the relationship between the girls and how it developed.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I noticed your points about illustrations Gail. I hadn't thought about reading the images in isolation, I think I took it for granted that a graphic novel's narrative is created by the interaction between text and image. But I read a lot of graphic novels, manga and manhwa so this kind of approach to storytelling is fairly familiar.

Alwynne wrote: "...it'd be interesting to know what the argument for that was."

Alwynne, this is all I could find that has more detail than the EveryLibrary Organization website:
From a 12/20/2023 article in the Orlando Sentinel:
"New Florida laws (HB 1069 and HB 1467) require media specialists — who are teachers with additional library training — to review and approve all books in classroom collections and school libraries and to exclude those that include pornography or 'sexual conduct'." A total of 673 books were pulled from classrooms because the district and the teachers feared for their jobs and their certificates until they have time to review them all. Stargazing was one of them. So now I'm shaking my head even more - porn? sexual conduct?

Thanks Gail, that's so weird. I know Florida has a reputation for being ultra repressive, homophobic etc It's famous for that here in the UK too. But this seems so arbitrary. I wonder if someone assumed that the girls were a couple, without actually reading the book? Not that that would make the ban any more acceptable!

I too read and enjoyed Stargazing, both the stories in written word and the illustrations/graphics. As others have mentioned, I found it a quick read and uplifting almost immediately. Colours have always brought me joy and I thought Lark Pien’s graphics were superb. I felt her use of simple and uncomplicated illustrations was powerful and she made excellent vibrant colour choices. Her illustrations featuring highly animated facial expressions, dance movements, song verses and current trends were all over-the-top in a good way. They added a great deal to the book. As the expression goes – one picture is worth a thousand words.

And this book has many great words and messages to mull over. Jen Wang writes words and stories about the daily lives of differing families, friends, teachers, neighbours and students. Speaking for myself, many ring true to how I felt growing up and sometimes do today - wanting to fit in, to be loved for being me, to be both autonomous and supported etc. The book is filled with wisdom for children, young and old adults, educators and parents.

I think anyone, unless totally closed to changing or learning, will find something in the book that will teach or remind them of the most important things in life and to strive for the best possible treatment of each other.

Mj wrote: "I too read and enjoyed Stargazing, both the stories in written word and the illustrations/graphics. As others have mentioned, I found it a quick read and uplifting almost immediatel..."

Lark Pien is credited as colorist, so I think the author is actually also the illustrator.
As I know Lark from back in the day, I was excitedly studying the color more than I usually would. I love the overall soft palette, not childishly bright rainbow colors. I think this gave the story its lovely overall gentle tone. And I thought the scenes of dim light, like in the yard at night and at the observatory, were especially beautiful.
And yea, Gail, so true in your review- so much is told in the visuals, like emotions and mood... I think reading your comment on this made me appreciate even more the 6 or so pages with only visuals, which conveyed so well the somber isolation they must have been feeling. This moment really tugged at the heart I thought. As did the scene with dad at the ice cream shop. I loved the humanity of this moment of flawed parenting.

Alwynne wrote: "Thanks Gail, that's so weird. I know Florida has a reputation for being ultra repressive, homophobic etc It's famous for that here in the UK too. But this seems so arbitrary. I wonder if someone as..."

And OMG as for this ban- shaking my head. This is the shit you have to laugh at to keep from screaming...
So, loads of books were pulled IN CASE there's inappropriate content that hasn't yet been really reviewed?! All I can imagine is they saw the two kids on the cover and didn't like that one of them is not obviously feminine or masculine so they think there's potentially a gender identity issue in the story cuz the blurb on the back cover is vague.