How We Named the Stars
by Andrés N. Ordorica
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 4 Jul 2024 | Archive Date 25 Jul 2024
Talking about this book? Use #HowWeNamedtheStars #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
One of the Observer’s 2024 Top Ten Debuts
‘Hearing you say my name was a way of seeing myself as I had never seen myself … you gave my name new meaning, new weight.’
Nerdy and shy, scholarship student Daniel de La Luna arrives at college nervous to meet his golden-haired, athletic roommate, whose Facebook photos depict a boy just like those who made Daniel’s school years hell.
Sam Morris is not what he had imagined, though. As the two settle into college life they drink tequila under the stars, go on long runs through snow-covered hills, explore freshman nightlife, and inch closer until they find themselves in love.
But their blissful first year is over all too soon. Daniel’s summer in his ancestral homeland of México becomes a rollercoaster of revelations, before his life is brutally upended by the unimaginable.
How We Named the Stars is a tale of love, heartache and learning to honour the dead. Daniel and Sam will leave you forever changed.
Advance Praise
"Ordorica constructs the world of the novel with unrelenting care, weaving together the beauty of love with the beauty of the natural world" New York Times
"Debut novelist Ordorica's tender coming-of-age novel is styled as a heart-rending letter written after a first love ends in tragedy" Washington Post, Best Books of January
"Daniel de La Luna is a first-generation Mexican college student carrying the dreams of his family as he matriculates into a well-known university in the East Coast. Struggling to adjust to this new environment he finds solace in his roommate Sam, who helps Daniel discover what love for him could look like." Today Show, Best News Books of 2024
"Majestic" Eduardo C Corral, author of Guillotine
"Radiant and deeply moving novel about the beauty and pain of love–for our partners, our families, and ourselves. An impressive emotional tour de force, and an extraordinary debut." Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men
"Dazzling ... a heartbreaking tale ... chock-full of wisdom" Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"Told with authenticity and compassion, this unconventional love story redefines notions of fraternity" Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"Ordorica delves into love and loss in two places and two times to powerful effect." Booklist
"Andrés N. Ordorica has written an intimate, necessary story of first love, first loss, and the promise of new beginnings. This empowering novel is required reading for anyone struggling to uncover their most authentic self." Zak Salih, author of Let's Get Back to the Party
"How We Named the Stars is a novel of first love and last rites. Ordorica captures perfectly the challenges of building a life out of experience, out of allowing ourselves to feel everything. A beautiful tale of friendship and the comfort found in stories of the past and in the arms of elders, living and dead." Richard Mirabella, author of Brother & Sister Enter the Forest
"Andrés N. Ordorica has captured the crushing isolation of navigating an elite college for the first time, all while experiencing a powerful, yet unattainable first love ... This novel is an extended meditation on the relationship between joy and grief, and how it can bind and heal both a life and a family." Analicia Sotelo, author of Virgin
"Love and loss, freedom and security, sex and identity." Andrés N. Ordorica's How We Named the Stars explores the desires and fears that live within us, that surface despite our attempts to tame or quiet them ... The story of Daniel and Sam will be with us for years to come." Eloisa Amezcua, author of Fighting Is Like a Wife
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781916812086 |
| PRICE | £8.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 304 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Nuha H, Media/Journalist
4.75 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and Saraband for the ARC.
To me, Andres N. Ordorica's 'How We Named the Stars' was written like an eulogy. It was equal parts poetic, heartbreaking, romantic and hopeful. I loved the concept and the story. The final few chapters absolutely wrecked me. I honestly didn't want this book to finish. It was so, so, so, sooooo good!
Andres!! I can't wait to read more of your work!
Readers who liked this book also liked:
