Book Descriptions
for An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
A star-crossed story of family, identity, and fate set in 1991 beautifully blends a realistic romance with mesmerizing magical realism. Luna Chen and Hunter Yee were born in the United States to immigrant parents from Taiwan. Luna’s parents can’t stand the Yees, and Hunter’s parents can’t stand the Chens. Naturally Luna and Hunter fall in love, reveling in their burgeoning relationship while grappling with family dramas and inexplicable events. Hunter’s parents have been living in fear since stealing an ancient Chinese artifact when Hunter was a child; he and his little brother, Cody, have paid a heavy price. Luna feels pressure to get into Stanford and make her parents proud, and then she discovers their lies. The world is crumbling literally around the two of them, too, as huge cracks and fissures appear in their town. Hunter, a boy with perfect aim, and Luna, a girl who attracts fireflies day and night despite the cold, bear a burden they don’t understand in this arresting tale that begins by recounting how the girl who was the moon’s “heart and its breath” stood on her tiptoes to look at the boy “who made the stars fly” and fell off the edge. “It shifted the universe off its axis.” Moving back and forth between Luna’s and Hunter’s points of view, the story includes occasional other perspectives, most notably of their four parents, offering insight into the complexities of their histories and adult lives. (Age 14 and older)
CCBC Choices 2023. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2023. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
Romeo and Juliet meets Chinese mythology in this magical novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Astonishing Color of After.
Hunter Yee has perfect aim with a bow and arrow, but all else in his life veers wrong. He’s sick of being haunted by his family’s past mistakes. The only things keeping him from running away are his little brother, a supernatural wind, and the bewitching girl at his new high school.
Luna Chang dreads the future. Graduation looms ahead, and her parents’ expectations are stifling. When she begins to break the rules, she finds her life upended by the strange new boy in her class, the arrival of unearthly fireflies, and an ominous crack spreading across the town of Fairbridge.
As Hunter and Luna navigate their families’ enmity and secrets, everything around them begins to fall apart. All they can depend on is their love…but time is running out, and fate will have its way.
An Arrow to the Moon, Emily X.R. Pan’s brilliant and ethereal follow-up to The Astonishing Color of After, is a story about family, love, and the magic and mystery of the moon that connects us all.
Hunter Yee has perfect aim with a bow and arrow, but all else in his life veers wrong. He’s sick of being haunted by his family’s past mistakes. The only things keeping him from running away are his little brother, a supernatural wind, and the bewitching girl at his new high school.
Luna Chang dreads the future. Graduation looms ahead, and her parents’ expectations are stifling. When she begins to break the rules, she finds her life upended by the strange new boy in her class, the arrival of unearthly fireflies, and an ominous crack spreading across the town of Fairbridge.
As Hunter and Luna navigate their families’ enmity and secrets, everything around them begins to fall apart. All they can depend on is their love…but time is running out, and fate will have its way.
An Arrow to the Moon, Emily X.R. Pan’s brilliant and ethereal follow-up to The Astonishing Color of After, is a story about family, love, and the magic and mystery of the moon that connects us all.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.