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Reviewed by: Anna Bayerl, Junior High School Librarian Title: Brighter than the Sun Author: Daniel Aleman Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: 7-12 Genre/Type of Book: Realistic Fiction
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Family is trying to move on as they grieve the death of the mother. Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: 1. It fits with a social issues unit covered in ELA 8 classes. 2. The description intrigued me. If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: We never know all that we are capable of until we are faced with difficult challenges.
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Review:
Sol is a sixteen year-old girl living with her family in Tijuana, Mexico. An incident during her birth lead her to become the only member of the family to be born in the United States and therefore, hold citizenship. Her citizenship provides opportunities that come along with hardships. Every day she wakes up early to wait in line at the border to cross to San Diego where she gets on a bus to her high school. Her mother encourages her and Sol works hard to become the first person in her family to go to college. When Sol is fifteen her mother dies of cancer. Filled with grief, the family struggles emotionally and financially. Eventually, Sol is required to leave the family during the week to stay with a friend in the U.S so she may get a job to support her family. She continues going to school, working hours before and after, and visiting her family in Tijuana on weekends. With the help of family and friends, she learns to deal with the many stresses in her life. Brighter Than the Sun includes several themes including resilience, the value of family, friends becoming family, overcoming grief, the necessity of hope, personal growth and transformation, and immigration and emigration. It has an attractive cover with a sunrise in the background a the silhouette of a female teen wearing a backpack walking along. It fits perfectly with our ELA social issues unit which involves students selecting a fiction title with at least one social issue as a theme and keeping a journal as they read, recording the obstacles the character(s) face and how they overcome them. I would give this book five, out of five, stars. It seemed realistic and is very timely. If you want to take a walk in the shoes of another, this is a great book to do so.
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For more information about this book, see the Publishers Website
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