Under the Same Stars (Good Morning America Book Club Pick)

by Libba Bray Narrated by January LaVoy, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, Major Curda

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A sweeping mystery spanning past and present, featuring three teens from three different periods and the sacrifices they make in the name of a better world. As meaningful as it is action-packed.

A Good Morning America Book Club YA Pick! This program features multicast narration.

"This is an audiobook one wishes would never end." -AudioFile on The King of Crows (an Earphones Award winner)

From New York Times-bestselling author Libba Bray comes an evocative and groundbreaking young adult historical mystery that examines truth, rebellion, reconciliation, and what must be sacrificed for a better world.

It was said that if you write to the Bridegroom's Oak, the love of your life will answer back. Now, the tree is giving up its secrets at last.

In 1940s Germany, Sophie is excited to discover a message waiting for her in the Bridegroom's Oak from a mysterious suitor. Meanwhile, her best friend, Hanna, is sending messages too-but not to find love. As World War II unfolds in their small town of Kleinwald, the oak may hold the key to resistance against the Nazis.

In 1980s West Germany, American teen transplant Jenny feels suffocated by her strict parents and is struggling to fit in. Until she finds herself falling for Lena, a punk-rock girl hell-bent on tearing down the wall separating West Germany from East Germany, and meeting Frau Hermann, a kind old lady with secrets of her own.

In Spring 2020, New York City, best friends Miles and Chloe are in the first weeks of COVID lockdown and hating Zoom school, when an unexpected package from Chloe's grandmother leads them to investigate a cold case about two unidentified teenagers who went missing under the Bridegroom's Oak eighty years ago.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A New York Times Bestseller

An Indie Bestseller

A USA Today Bestseller

Good Morning America Book Club Pick

Target Book Club Pick

Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

An Amazon Best Book of the Year So Far

“The legendary Libba Bray writes punk rock journeys across wide swaths of dark history and deep into the wonder of the human soul. She is one of our most original minds and Under the Same Stars will leave you shattered and wildly hopeful.” — E. Lockhart, author of We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud

"Libba Bray is magic. [Her] gorgeous prose and propulsive plotting draw the reader into the lives of young people who are fighting for their communities and themselves and you'll want to fight right alongside them. . . . stirring and absolutely unforgettable." —Samira Ahmed, New York Times-bestselling author of Internment and Hollow Fires

"Under the Same Stars is both a sweeping and epic tale of young people in three very different eras grappling with what it means to fight injustice. It is a stark reminder that the past is prologue. It’s also a Libba Bray book, meaning it’s full of banter, romance, humor and a little bit of magic."

—Gayle Forman, author of Not Nothing and After Life

"Immersive... Bray emphasizes how much we’re connected, offering a powerful depiction of transformative storytelling as an act of resistance and a harbinger of the future... a breathtaking journey that will leave a lasting impression on readers’ minds and hearts." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Masterful, heart-wrenching...Readers will come away motivated to be fully present, completely themselves, and to believe that courageous action matters. Because we all—past, present, and future—live under the same stars." —Booklist, starred review

"Bray is no stranger to complex magic systems, developing here a magic that lies in the power of storytelling itself... A gripping and complex mystery that spans three timelines about storytelling, resistance, remorse, and reconciliation." —Shelf Awareness, starred review

"Ms. Bray’s abundance of timelines and characters offers willing readers ages 12 to 18 different entry points into what is essentially one story: How we awaken to injustice around us and how we’re called to act afterward." —Wall Street Journal

"A moving love letter to courage, connection, and the long fight against oppression." —School Library Journal

"[An] inspiring historical mystery... Bray’s intimate third-person narrative kaleidoscopes back and forth in time, interweaving the three story lines and highlighting their internal resonance." —Publishers Weekly

"The three timelines are beautifully woven together, layered with secret loves, deep betrayals, and painful regrets, all threaded by the persistent theme that resistance to oppression looks different in different times but is always defined by a search for justice." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"In this ambitious work, Bray alternates three seemingly disparate stories, briefly braiding them into one near the novel’s end...Throughout, Bray stresses the value of resistance to 'our flawed world’s inhumanity, intolerance, and authoritarianism' by means of 'acts both large and small.'" —Horn Book

JANUARY 2025 - AudioFile

A trio of narrators portray teens from different eras and settings. January LaVoy transitions smoothly from the accented dialogue of Hanna and Sophie, two Polish teens, to an unstressed voicing of their risk-taking amid Hitler's threats in 1939. Jeremy Carlisle Parker transitions listeners to 1980 West Berlin, where Jenny adjusts to her family's move from Dallas. Parker also portrays passionate, German-accented Lena, a queer punk rocker, whom Jenny comes to love. In addition, Parker delivers the softer storytelling tones of an older German woman. Major Curda communicates the growth of Brooklynite Miles, who solves the mysterious disappearances of two girls sixty years earlier. The trio heighten their narrations as the story's tension increases and connections become clear. Libba Bray cheerily reads her Author Note. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2024-11-09
Three groups of teens are connected by a painful, decades-old mystery.

In 1940s Germany, best friends Sophie and Hanna believe in the magic of the Bridegroom’s Oak, which is said to help people find true love. Hopeless romantic Sophie, in particular, takes comfort in the protection of the Dodauer Forest where the oak grows—until World War II becomes a violent reality that tests not only the girls’ friendship but also their conceptions of duty and justice. In 1980s West Berlin, preppy American transplant Jenny is a fish out of water—until she meets German punk Lena, who urges her to rebel against society’s expectations. And in 2020 Brooklyn, Miles is trying to adjust to the radical changes brought on by Covid-19. When his best friend, Chloe, is gifted with her grandmother’s scrapbook, the pair uncover a trail of secrets linked to long-ago disappearances. Bray’s immersive third-person narrative seamlessly navigates past and present, weaving together themes of power, remorse, forgiveness, and hope. She crafts her characters with detailed precision; their emotions feel as alive as each well-rendered historical setting. Through the lens of these young people’s lives, Bray emphasizes how much we’re connected, offering a powerful depiction of transformative storytelling as an act of resistance and a harbinger of the future. Most characters are white; Miles is Filipino and white.

A breathtaking journey that will leave a lasting impression on readers’ minds and hearts.(Historical mystery. 13-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940191555706
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	02/04/2025
Edition description:	Unabridged

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