Super Fake Love Song

Starred review from October 19, 2020
Yoon’s (Frankly in Love) endearingly winning coming-of-age novel begins when 17-year-old self-described nerd Sunny Dae, who is Korean American, meets the girl of his dreams: Korean American Cirrus Soh, the well-traveled daughter of commercial real estate developers. After her family moves to Rancho Ruby, a “99.6 percent” white community in Southern California, tongue-tied Sunny doesn’t correct Cirrus when she mistakes his older brother Gray’s room for his, leading Cirrus to believe that Sunny is a budding rock star. Desperate to impress and avoid being caught in the lie, Sunny recruits his best friends to join his fake band, the Immortals. Together, they learn to play instruments and work on perfecting one of Gray’s unperformed songs. But when Gray moves back home, and the bully who has tormented Sunny for years figures out the scheme, Sunny’s plans may all come tumbling down. Through Sunny, who feels conflicted about his parents’ obsession with money and his older brother’s choices to abandon music for a more stable career, Yoon challenges stereotypes and tackles the age-old theme of being true to oneself, whether that self is a rock star or a nerd. Ages 14–up. Agents: Sara Shandler, Joelle Hobeika, and Josh Bank, Alloy Entertainment.

October 15, 2020
Grades 9-12 Sunny Dae doesn't mean to lie to new girl Cirrus Soh?it's just that she's so cool and he's a nerd who makes D&D videos. Surely he can be forgiven for claiming that his brother Gray's guitar-filled bedroom is his own? As his friends Milo and Jamal point out, the easiest way out of the sticky situation he's created is to make the lie true, and the two of them reluctantly agree to help him form a rock band even though they'd rather return to nerdier pursuits. Growing closer to Cirrus is everything Sunny dreamed it would be, and his new rock-star attitude?which he's becoming oddly addicted to?is even making him popular. But his relationship with Gray, whose life is slowly falling apart, is strained, and the game he's playing seems destined to implode. Sunny's relationship with Cirrus doesn't ring quite as true as his friendships, but his voice, unique and wry, is gripping. Fans of Yoon's Frankly in Love (2019)?and there are legions?will enjoy this follow-up that similarly tries to reconcile romance with identity.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Yoon won hearts and accolades with his best-selling, Morris-finalist debut, Frankly in Love, and readers have been eagerly awaiting his sophomore novel. You won't have to twist the truth to get them to pick this one up.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

Starred review from November 1, 2020

Gr 7 Up-Most of the time, Sunny Dae is OK with being a nerd, despite the bullying and casual racism he experiences at school for being Korean American in a mostly white community. He has two close friends, and together they run a successful DIY cosplay video channel. But Sunny is jealous of his older brother, Gray, a musician living in Hollywood. When his parents' colleagues bring their teenage daughter, Cirrus (also Korean American), to Sunny's house, Sunny makes a split-second decision to pretend that Gray's bedroom is his own and that he is the one in a rock band. And something amazing happens: Cirrus thinks Sunny is cool. For several weeks, Sunny carries the lie further by wearing Gray's clothes and convincing his friends to actually form a band with him to play in an upcoming talent show. With his new persona, Sunny begins to experience what it's like to feel cool for the first time in his life. Predictably, Sunny's lies soon alienate those close to him, and eventually he must come clean and make a decision about who he truly wants to be. Readers will be drawn in by the sweet romance and Sunny's hilarious narration. But in a novel filled with excellent writing, strong characterization, and abundant positive messages, perhaps the greatest strength of all is the emotional openness of the male characters. VERDICT Yoon's sophomore follow-up to 2019's Frankly in Love is charming, witty, and inspirational. Highly recommended.-Liz Overberg, Zionsville Community H.S., IN

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2021
Sunny Dae and his friends are the "nerd caste" (and also "42.85714286 percent of the entire nonwhite population") at their suburban Los Angeles high school. They are, after all, the hosts of a web series about building props for LARP events (live action role playing, for the uninitiated). But when he meets cool new girl Cirrus, Sunny hides his passions for crafting and role-playing games and pretends he's the front man of a band called the Immortals, using his older brother Gray's equipment and wearing his clothes. The lie escalates quickly: soon, both Cirrus and Sunny are smitten with "Rock Star Sunny," and the Immortals are preparing to perform in their school's talent show. Sunny's narration, full of inventive metaphors, is distinctly, gloriously nerdy. For example, when he hears that Gray quit his band for financial reasons: "It killed me that people had to cancel their dreams for endless toil, unless of course we somehow managed to pull ourselves out of these late-stage capitalist dark ages and into a Star Trek (TNG) future blessed with a universal basic income and sweet jumpsuits." Despite Sunny's self-professed cynicism, the novel is a joyful one: a bully easily becomes a friend; three geeky friends turn out to also be decent musicians; and ultimately Sunny, just as he is, gets the girl. For nerds -- and those who love them -- this is a fitting tribute.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2021
Sunny Dae and his friends are the "nerd caste" (and also "42.85714286 percent of the entire nonwhite population") at their suburban Los Angeles high school. They are, after all, the hosts of a web series about building props for LARP events (live action role playing, for the uninitiated). But when he meets cool new girl Cirrus, Sunny hides his passions for crafting and role-playing games and pretends he's the front man of a band called the Immortals, using his older brother Gray's equipment and wearing his clothes. The lie escalates quickly: soon, both Cirrus and Sunny are smitten with "Rock Star Sunny," and the Immortals are preparing to perform in their school's talent show. Sunny's narration, full of inventive metaphors, is distinctly, gloriously nerdy. For example, when he hears that Gray quit his band for financial reasons: "It killed me that people had to cancel their dreams for endless toil, unless of course we somehow managed to pull ourselves out of these late-stage capitalist dark ages and into a Star Trek (TNG) future blessed with a universal basic income and sweet jumpsuits." Despite Sunny's self-professed cynicism, the novel is a joyful one: a bully easily becomes a friend; three geeky friends turn out to also be decent musicians; and ultimately Sunny, just as he is, gets the girl. For nerds -- and those who love them -- this is a fitting tribute. Rachel L. Smith

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from September 15, 2020
Fake it till you make it? Unlike Gray, his aspiring rock star older brother, camera-shy Korean American teen Sunny Dae loves sharing his nerdy hobbies of live-action role-playing Dungeons & Dragons and designing cosplay props with his best friends, Milo and Jamal, despite the bullying he receives from a school jock. Milo is Guatemalan American and Jamal is Jamaican American, and the trio have bonded in their Southern California town that is over 99% White. Then Sunny meets Rancho Ruby High School's newest student, the beautiful, worldly, music-loving, Korean American Cirrus Soh. Soon, he finds himself doing things he's never done before, like pretending his brother's band is actually his. Yoon captures the humor, the heart, and the universal anxieties--and possibilities--of trying on new identities in high school while also exploring microaggressions, toxic masculinity, bullying, parachute parenting, and classism. The book cautions readers against judging character based solely on outward appearances. Part of its brilliance lies in how it shows the ways Sunny's and Gray's desires for acceptance and popularity reflect what they see as their parents' own efforts to keep up with the Joneses. Dungeons & Dragons fans will appreciate the symbolic parallels between Sunny's story arc and the fate of the paladin figurine he made in middle school. A clever, hilarious, and empathetic look at diverse teens exploring authenticity, identities, and code-switching. (Fiction. 14-18)

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