How We Named the Stars

Service95 Recommends is the home of the books we love and reviews from our contributors. How We Named the Stars by Andrés N Ordorica follows Daniel de La Luna as he arrives at college, nervous about meeting his roommate, whose Facebook photos have a shudderingly similar vibe to the bullies that made his life hell.

What We Say: “‘Sam’s dead.’ As first lines go, this one is pretty bold and sets a bittersweet note for what follows. We meet Daniel de la Luna – a shy young Mexican American student as he arrives at a fictional New York State university and develops a crush on his sporty, popular – and apparently straight – roommate Sam. Their relationship unfolds in tandem with a parallel narrative told via short flashbacks that seem to mirror elements of their own. It’s a sweet, tender and transporting queer romance” – Katie Teehan

What They Say: “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

Available on Bookshop.org, Waterstones and Barnes & Noble

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Katie Teehan is Editorial Director at Service95