Author, Nicola Yoon’s storytelling is unique in that she uses multiple POV’s and does so successfully. Most of the story takes place in one day. The two major protagonists, Natasha and Daniel, are both on their way to appointments. Natasha to the immigration office and Daniel on his way to a college interview.  They meet on a sidewalk in Manhattan and this is where their stories converge.

Natasha and her family are due to be deported from the US to Jamaica in a matter of hours. Natasha and her family have been in the America since Natasha was 10 years old.  America is her home and she’s about to graduate from high school.  She’s desperate to stay in America.

Daniel’s family are Korean immigrants, but they are documented citizens. Daniel’s family wants him to go to Yale and become a Doctor, but he’d rather be a poet. Still, as a good son, he will follow his family’s wishes.

Daniel is immediately attracted to Natasha and he pursues her through a series of happenstances and they spend the day together. Their meeting seems impactful to both of them and the reader will want a happy resolution, but that is not life, though all is not lost. Both take something meaningful away from their encounter, something they will never forget.

Even if life is not fair, fate, fickle as it is, construes for them to connect again in the far future. The rest is left to the readers’ imagination.

Nicola’s writing is excellent and the story is interesting on many levels. I enjoyed her characterization of their encounters.