This was such a sweet story of family, identity, and grief, and the hints of magical realism added another layer to the story. It will tug on the heartstrings, and you will want to make your own paper stars (instructions included!!)

Gorgeous and emotional, this story will resonate with many children of immigrants both inside and outside of the specific Korean story that Susie Yi weaves. An extremely well-done introduction to magical elements in graphic novels for middle graders that's both engaging and accessible.

I thoroughly enjoyed Yuna's story and know that student's will too. Students of all kinds will connect to Yuna's feelings of not fitting in and wanting to be like others around her.

This was a touching story of a family loosing a grandmother and the grief and memories associated with her. The main character doesn't feel like she fits in in America, but then she feels like an outsider in Korea.

78%

A story about a child of immigrants and the struggle to find somewhere they feel like they belong, because neither culture feels totally homely to them. As a child of immigrants, this story resonated with me, even if the 'mother' culture was different from my own - I think the general concept of searching for a place in society to call home is the same across the board.

This was a great look at grief and trying to move on. I liked seeing Yuna trying to find her purpose and self-worth. Things everyone deals with at one point or another.
I liked the illustrations in this graphic novel too.
I think it will be a good middle grade read.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a touching story about identity and the journey out of juvenile wishful thinking in times of grief. I think most children of immigrants will relate to these characters' stories.

I received an electronic ARC from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group through NetGalley.
Yi introduces Yuna, a young girl who is struggling to fit in. Her classmates make fun of her and her relatives in Korea think she is an American. Readers will connect with her need to belong and feeling of being alone. One of the things her family has taught her is to make paper stars. Once you make 1000, you can make a wish. After a particularly tough day at school, Yuna counts her stars and finishes the thousand. She wishes to go back to Korea so she can find a home where she belongs. Sadly, her Halmoni (grandmother) passes away shortly after this wish. The family leaves quickly and Yuna blames herself for her wish causing Halmoni's death. Readers see glimpses of the funeral process. Yuna realizes if she makes another 1000 stars, she can wish for Halmoni to come back. As she listens and learns and meets so many people, she filters what they say through her lens of blame and grief. In the end, comes the understanding that Halmoni is gone from this earth but remains in hearts. I appreciate the return family visit to end the book.
Highly detailed illustrations capture the character emotions throughout. A tender look at grief, loneliness, guilt, and growth. Be sure to read the Author's Note for more information.

While I liked the Korean cultural aspects, I didn't particularly connect with the story in this middle grade graphic novel. I felt like the magical realism elements didn't work, and I didn't find Yuna's guilt over her wish to go back to Korea particularly believable. Not a bad book, but not a great one.
Review based on an eARC received through NetGalley.

Thank you to netgalley for a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel was heartwrenchingly beautiful. It was a super quick read I just about read it in one sitting. It was a sad graphic novel and would have liked it if it was a little longer and explored Yuna not fitting in and how she handles that, I think it is a little glazed over. I was almost in tears when she was rushing to make enough stars to with Halmoni back. It was a great graphic novel, I would recommend it!

This was a really cute and really moving middle grade graphic novel about grief and purpose and self-worth and what it's like to feel on the outside.

We're all human beings, made of paper, trying so hard not to tear apart in the wind. We're all fragile in some ways.


Recently, dealing with grief of my own, I've tried to stay away from stories about it because it can be too heavy for my fragile emotions. But sometimes I come across a story that makes me feel a little bit of comfort. And A Sky of Paper Stars was just that. It's a beautifully illustrated and written story of a child losing a grandparent after wishing for things to be different. Yuna attempts to make a thousand paper stars to first make the original wish and then another to reverse her wish. She struggles with all the grief before learning to heal. The story is told from a Korean immigrant viewpoint but grief and love are a universal language. I also really appreciated the paper stars tutorial at the end of the story. A Sky Full of Stars is a must-read.

***Thank you to Netgalley and Roaring Brook Press for providing me with a review copy.***

I was so excited when I was able to get a copy of this book as I could tell from the synopsis that it would be something I would enjoy, and I did! I loved the story and Yuna's struggle with the feeling that she didn't belong anywhere because she didn't quite fit in in either America or Korea, and her longing for that feeling of home. This also really delves a bit into grief and sudden loss of a loved one as well and overall was a beautiful but heart wrenching story. The art style was beautiful, with different palettes for different types of scenes, such as memories being differently shaded than things happening in the present. I also really enjoyed the touches of Korean culture that the author included, shaped by their own experiences.

When Yuma was young, her family moved from Korea to USA, but despite living in America for six years, Yuma still doesn't feel like she fits in. Her mom's home cooking and her family's strict rules make her feel like an outcast among her peers. But Yuma has a plan, and she won't stop folding stars until her wish comes true, just as her grandmother taught her. But when a wish goes horribly wrong, Yuma has to find a new definition of belonging.

This story blends a little bit of magic with a little bit of culture and a big part of what it means to grow up. Some of this I've heard before (many times), but I like the way this story unfolds to show that Yuma's assumptions and memories about her culture aren't the same when someone else describes them. The funeral scene was truly heart-wrenching, reminding us that stories live on even when our bodies pass away. The illustrations are simple yet lovely, creating a variety of moods with simple lines.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This graphic novel was hilarious and well-drawn, definitely worth the money and the hype, and I hope will be successful!

A Sky of Paper Stars is a beautiful depiction of finding where you belong and the ways that we find community, love, and support as we grieve. Yi does an amazing job of showing how first generation immigrants and their children find their community in a new home. Through the act of making paper stars, Yuna finds that she can us their magic to make a wish, but when her wish doesn't turn out the way she'd hoped, she searches through the many generations of supportive and loving women in her family to save her loved ones. Yi shows not only the immigrant experience and the ways in which people struggle to find their home, but also the ways that we connect to our families and older generations to fully appreciate who we are.

Received an ARC from Netgalley. This was a fairly quick read. The art and storyline were good, but overall, the book lacked for me.

A Sky of Paper Stars is a wonderful middle school graphic novel about growing up, respecting your heritage, fitting in, and learning that you can be many things. The illustrations are colorful and appealing to readers. The different fonts can be a little confusing at first but overall add to the dimensions of the story.
Yuna is a Korean-American middle school girl who is struggling with fitting in among her peers. She is resentful of her Korean heritage and customs. She thinks everything would be better if she could just change who she is, so she wishes upon 1,000 paper stars that she makes to “be someone else”. Shortly after making that wish her Halmoni (grandmother) passes away and the family must travel back to Korea. Here she learns what really matters but can she change the course of her wish in time?
This is a must purchase for all public and school libraries who have graphic novel collections.

As I always start out, I talk about the cover and title of the book. Both of them were very catchy and caught my eye. It was a good book that would help a child if they lost someone and their thoughts of how they could keep them alive. I enjoyed how this book had some Korean rituals that I would not know about, since I am not Korean. It was easy to understand and had some good ideas about how others could deal with their feelings and moving forward after the death of a loved one. I also like how they showed how to make a paper star at the end. Wishes are interesting things, sometimes they come true and other times not, Wishes give you hope.

Yuna lives with her younger sister Mina and her parents in the US. Her parents have come to the US from Korea, and hold on strongly to their cultural ways. This irritates Yuna when her parents won't let her have a phone, have sleepovers at classmates' homes, and pack her lunches that children at school think are "weird". She has quite a fight with her mother, and tells her that she throws away the carefully packed lunches every day. Her grandmother, who is still in Korea, taught Yuna that if she folded 1,000 paper stars, she could make a wish. Yuna does this, and wishes to move back to Korea with her parents so that she is seen as normal, but shortly afterwards word comes that Halmoni has died. The family travels back for the funeral, and Yuna is consumed with the idea that she cause Halmoni's death. She hasn't seen Halmoni since she was young, and had some unpleasant interactions with her that come back to haunt her. She was fearful of the texture of Halmoni's hands, which felt like paper to her, and she feels herself slowly turning to paper as guilt consumes her. The family goes through all of the funeral proceedings, but Yuna decides that if she can fold another 1,000 paper starts, she can bring her grandmother back. Because of family obligations, she is unable to do this, so feels even more guilty. Eventually, she admits her feelings to her mother, who helps her to understand that you can have disagreements with those who love you, and they will understand.
Strengths: The death of a grandparent who lives far away is very traumatic, and this is a good description of how a family deals with returnin home to honor a deceased relative. I enjoyed seeing glimpses of Halmoni's life, and also Yuna's interactions with her grandmother. Yuna's feelings of not belonging in the US, and then of not belonging in Korea, will be interesting to readers who feel that way, and informative to readers who feel firmly identified with just one culture. The illustrations style is pleasant, and makes it easier to see as Yuna's "paper" skin takes over. I liked that instructions on how to fold the stars was given at the end of the book, along with some personal notes from the author.
Weaknesses: While this seems solidly middle grade, it seemed odd that Yuna really seemed to believe that she could bring Halmoni back to life with her wish. This belief in magic usually ends in first or second grade, but Yuna really does seem to think that folding 1,000 stars will grant her a wish, and that her first wish resulted in her grandmother's death.
What I really think: Comparisons to Chanani's Pashmina or Wang's Stargazing are apt, and this will also be appreciated by readers who like the history in Ahn's A Spoonful of Time.