We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

A River of Stars: A Novel
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

Book Cover
Average Rating
5 star
 
(1)
4 star
 
(2)
3 star
 
(1)
2 star
 
(1)
1 star
 
(0)
Published:
Random House Publishing Group 2018
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In a powerful debut about modern-day motherhood, immigration, and identity, a pregnant Chinese woman stakes a claim to the American dream in California.
“Utterly absorbing.”—Celeste Ng • “A marvel of a first novel.”—O: The Oprah Magazine • “The most eye-opening literary adventure of the year.”—Entertainment Weekly
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • Real Simple
Holed up with other mothers-to-be in a secret maternity home in Los Angeles, Scarlett Chen is far from her native China, where she worked in a factory and fell in love with the married owner, Boss Yeung. Now she’s carrying his baby. To ensure that his child—his first son—has every advantage, Boss Yeung has shipped Scarlett off to give birth on American soil. As Scarlett awaits the baby’s arrival, she spars with her imperious housemates. The only one who fits in even less is Daisy, a spirited, pregnant teenager who is being kept apart from her American boyfriend.
Then a new sonogram of Scarlett’s baby reveals the unexpected. Panicked, she goes on the run by hijacking a van—only to discover that she has a stowaway: Daisy, who intends to track down the father of her child. The two flee to San Francisco’s bustling Chinatown, where Scarlett will join countless immigrants desperately trying to seize their piece of the American dream. What Scarlett doesn’t know is that her baby’s father is not far behind her.
A River of Stars is a vivid examination of home and belonging and a moving portrayal of a woman determined to build her own future.
Praise for A River of Stars
“Vanessa Hua’s story spins with wild fervor, with charming protagonists fiercely motivated by maternal and survival instincts.”USA Today
A River of Stars is the best of all worlds: part buddy cop adventure, part coming-of-age story and part ode to female friendship.”—NPR
“Hua’s epic A River of Stars follows a pair of pregnant Chinese immigrant women—two of the more vibrant characters I’ve come across in a while—on the lam from Los Angeles to San Francisco’s Chinatown.”—R. O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries, in Esquire
“A delightful novel of motherhood and Chinese immigration . . . Without wading into policy debates, Ms Hua dramatises the stories and contributions of immigrants who believe in grand ideals and strive to live up to them.”The Economist
Also in This Series
Formats
Adobe EPUB eBook
Works on all eReaders (except Kindles), desktop computers and mobile devices with reading apps installed.
Kindle Book
Works on Kindles and devices with a Kindle app installed.
OverDrive Read
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
08/14/2018
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780399178801
ASIN:
B077LSVT5K
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Vanessa Hua. (2018). A River of Stars: A Novel. Random House Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Vanessa Hua. 2018. A River of Stars: A Novel. Random House Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Vanessa Hua, A River of Stars: A Novel. Random House Publishing Group, 2018.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Vanessa Hua. A River of Stars: A Novel. Random House Publishing Group, 2018.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection55
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
2a841cae-9bbb-245c-3315-10470006e406
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Aug 09, 2018 17:36:26
Date Updated:
Dec 06, 2020 02:43:51
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 24, 2024 11:56:15
Last Metadata Change:
Jan 30, 2024 06:56:47
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 11:56:17
Last Availability Change:
Mar 14, 2024 13:45:12
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 28, 2024 02:11:39

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{EB6D8012-82EE-4C7C-B6CE-511D0074FD20}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{EB6D8012-82EE-4C7C-B6CE-511D0074FD20}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/EB6/D80/12/{EB6D8012-82EE-4C7C-B6CE-511D0074FD20}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/EB6/D80/12/{EB6D8012-82EE-4C7C-B6CE-511D0074FD20}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780399178801
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 550208
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • identifiers:
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B077LSVT5K
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 550208
      • name: Kindle Book
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780399178801
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 550208
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • id: ebook-overdrive
mediaType
eBook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Vanessa Hua
title
A River of Stars
dateAdded
2018-08-09T18:58:00-04:00
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=3845073
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151
sortTitle
River of Stars A Novel
crossRefId
3845073
subtitle
A Novel
id
eb6d8012-82ee-4c7c-b6ce-511d0074fd20
starRating
3.6

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • fileName: ARiverofStars_9780399178801_3845073
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 3813988
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780399178801
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 550208
      • rights:
            • type: Copying
            • value: 0
            • type: Printing
            • value: 0
            • type: Lending
            • value: 0
            • type: ReadAloud
            • value: 0
            • type: ExpirationRights
            • value: 0
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • onSaleDate: 8/14/2018
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=eb6d8012-82ee-4c7c-b6ce-511d0074fd20&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: ARiverofStars_3845073
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 550208
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B077LSVT5K
      • name: Kindle Book
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • onSaleDate: 8/14/2018
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=eb6d8012-82ee-4c7c-b6ce-511d0074fd20&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: ARiverofStars_9780399178801_3845073
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780399178801
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 550208
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 8/14/2018
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=eb6d8012-82ee-4c7c-b6ce-511d0074fd20&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
keywords
      • value: family
      • value: relationships
      • value: Friendship
      • value: literary fiction
      • value: relationship
      • value: motherhood
      • value: family life
      • value: mother
      • value: Los Angeles
      • value: parenting
      • value: San Francisco
      • value: mothers
      • value: asian american
      • value: California
      • value: Immigration
      • value: Saga
      • value: marriage
      • value: Chinese
      • value: love
      • value: Coming of age
      • value: Identity
      • value: silicon valley
      • value: Asian
      • value: pregnancy
      • value: China
      • value: mystery
      • value: Women's Fiction
      • value: mysteries
      • value: Contemporary Women
      • value: Genetics
      • value: survival
      • value: twins
      • value: Chinese American
      • value: strong female protagonist
      • value: one child policy
      • value: christmas gifts
      • value: Literary gifts
      • value: asian-american literature
      • value: gifts for women
      • value: mystery book
      • value: anchor baby
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Hua, Vanessa
      • bioText: Vanessa Hua is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of a short story collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities. For two decades, she has been writing, in journalism and fiction, about Asia and the Asian diaspora. She has received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, the San Francisco Foundation’s James D. Phelan Award, and a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, as well as honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Asian American Journalists Association. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post. A River of Stars is Vanessa Hua’s first novel.
      • name: Vanessa Hua
imprint
Ballantine Books
publishDate
2018-08-14T00:00:00-04:00
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
A River of Stars
fullDescription
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In a powerful debut about modern-day motherhood, immigration, and identity, a pregnant Chinese woman stakes a claim to the American dream in California.
“Utterly absorbing.”—Celeste Ng • “A marvel of a first novel.”—O: The Oprah Magazine • “The most eye-opening literary adventure of the year.”—Entertainment Weekly
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • Real Simple
Holed up with other mothers-to-be in a secret maternity home in Los Angeles, Scarlett Chen is far from her native China, where she worked in a factory and fell in love with the married owner, Boss Yeung. Now she’s carrying his baby. To ensure that his child—his first son—has every advantage, Boss Yeung has shipped Scarlett off to give birth on American soil. As Scarlett awaits the baby’s arrival, she spars with her imperious housemates. The only one who fits in even less is Daisy, a spirited, pregnant teenager who is being kept apart from her American boyfriend.
Then a new sonogram of Scarlett’s baby reveals the unexpected. Panicked, she goes on the run by hijacking a van—only to discover that she has a stowaway: Daisy, who intends to track down the father of her child. The two flee to San Francisco’s bustling Chinatown, where Scarlett will join countless immigrants desperately trying to seize their piece of the American dream. What Scarlett doesn’t know is that her baby’s father is not far behind her.
A River of Stars is a vivid examination of home and belonging and a moving portrayal of a woman determined to build her own future.
Praise for A River of Stars
“Vanessa Hua’s story spins with wild fervor, with charming protagonists fiercely motivated by maternal and survival instincts.”USA Today
A River of Stars is the best of all worlds: part buddy cop adventure, part coming-of-age story and part ode to female friendship.”—NPR
“Hua’s epic A River of Stars follows a pair of pregnant Chinese immigrant women—two of the more vibrant characters I’ve come across in a while—on the lam from Los Angeles to San Francisco’s Chinatown.”—R. O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries, in Esquire
“A delightful novel of motherhood and Chinese immigration . . . Without wading into policy debates, Ms Hua dramatises the stories and contributions of immigrants who believe in grand ideals and strive to live up to them.”The Economist
gradeLevels
      • value: Grade 5
      • value: Grade 6
      • value: Grade 7
reviews
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        May 7, 2018
        In her skillful debut novel, Hua (Deceit and Other Possibilities: Stories), a San Francisco Chronicle columnist, introduces a strong heroine: fiercely independent Scarlett Chen. Scarlett, a factory clerk, fought her way to prosperity from the poverty of her native Chinese village and the clutches of her controlling mother. But when an affair with her married boss results in a pregnancy—and the ultrasound reveals the son he’s always longed for—Boss Yeung sends Scarlett to Los Angeles to be cared for in a secret maternity home. Run by another clever woman, Mama Fang, the home caters to wealthy Chinese couples hoping to secure U.S. citizenship for their soon-to-be born children. It’s there that Boss Yeung’s true intentions (and his own considerable self-interest) are revealed. When Scarlett learns that the ultrasound was incorrect and she’s in fact carrying a girl, she knows she must leave the home to save herself. Along with another young pregnant woman, she breaks free to scratch out an existence on the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown—a setup that is heartbreaking and, at turns, hilarious, as the two must remain undetected while they make their way across California. Hua wonderfully evokes the exigencies of lives at the margins of American culture by revealing Scarlett’s enduring ingenuity as she navigates near-destitute single motherhood.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        June 1, 2018
        A pregnant Chinese woman goes on the run in America to escape her controlling ex.Scarlett never imagined she would find herself somewhere like Perfume Bay, a posh private accommodation for expectant Chinese mothers in Los Angeles. But when she gets pregnant with her boss's baby, and that baby turns out to be a boy, everything in her life changes in an instant. Boss Yeung will take no risks with the son he's always dreamed of...even if that son is illegitimate. Scarlett, who is used to working in factories and fending for herself, is not prepared for life among the pampered women at Perfume Bay who have come to America to secure citizenship for their children. When she finds out that Boss Yeung wants to pay her to give her baby up to his legitimate family, she finally decides to take her life back into her own hands and escape the claustrophobic Perfume Bay. But she doesn't anticipate being accompanied by Daisy, a spunky and occasionally obnoxious teenager whose parents sent her away when she got pregnant with her beloved boyfriend's baby. The two women escape north to San Francisco's Chinatown neighborhood, where they scrounge together food and money for themselves and their newborns--all while Boss Yeung gets closer and closer to tracking Scarlett down. This debut novel from Hua, who has previously published a collection of short stories (Deceit and Other Possibilities, 2016), paints a vivid picture of Scarlett and Daisy's unromantic and occasionally squalid, but nevertheless vibrant, life in Chinatown. Scarlett's fear of being discovered by Boss Yeung never fully dissipates, but it is ultimately overtaken by her fear of being discovered by American authorities who could deport her, and her constant paranoia is palpable. Unfortunately, the novel never fully capitalizes on its strengths. Boss Yeung's narrative is tedious, and Scarlett's lacks momentum. And the novel's saccharine ending undercuts its atmospheric successes.A 21st-century immigrant story that, while intermittently intriguing, falls short of its potential.

        COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        July 1, 2018
        In Perfume Bay, a luxurious oasis just outside Los Angeles, pregnant Chinese women are pampered through the U.S. birth of precious progeny who will provide their parents with a foothold in America. Among the guests is factory-manager Scarlett Chen, sent to the U.S. to bear the son of her older, married lover, who's also her employer. As their long-distance relationship stagnates, Scarlett can't risk losing her unborn child to Boss Yeung. She manages to commandeer the residence's van for a late-night escape, then discovers a stowaway: Perfume Bay's youngest and most rebellious resident, Daisy, who still believes she can find her missing boyfriend. The unlikely pair flee to San Francisco's Chinatown, where accepting the kindness of strangers, clever bartering, peddling the Chinese slider, and catering a gay wedding keep them afloat until the inevitable confrontation converges at City Hall. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Hua follows her intriguing short story collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities (2016), with an astute debut novel that confronts identity, privilege, freedom, and a twenty-first-century rendering of the American dream with poignancy, insight, humor, and plenty of savvy charm.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        August 1, 2018

        This first novel from award-winning short story author Hua (Deceit and Possibilities) opens in California at Perfume Bay, a center hosting Chinese women for the purpose of birth tourism. The mistress of wealthy, older factory entrepreneur Boss Yeung, single, pregnant 36-year-old Scarlett Chen finds all going well until the facility is raided and she escapes with another patient, 17-year-old Daisy, stowed away in a van. What follows is an intriguing plot filled with twists and turns showing how the two women fare on the run with their limited visas, abetted by luck and ingenuity. Hua's characterization is strong and engaging and her writing highly descriptive, likely the result of her journalistic background. Yet while the story opens with a lot of promise, it becomes progressively less realistic as plotlines and characters wander off in various directions with results more akin to a comical screenplay. VERDICT Overall, an entertaining read best for those who don't mind overly tidy and farfetched fairy tale-like endings. [See Prepub Alert, 2/19/18.]--Shirley Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Santa Ana, CA

        Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        August 1, 2018

        Pregnant by her boss/lover, who sends her to America to give birth, Chinese factory clerk Scarlett Chen goes on the run from the maternity center with another mother-to-be. From a multi-award-winning author (e.g., the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award) whose debut collection was glowingly reviewed.

        Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

popularity
885
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/eb6d8012-82ee-4c7c-b6ce-511d0074fd20/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
eb6d8012-82ee-4c7c-b6ce-511d0074fd20
starRating
3.6
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{EB6D8012-82EE-4C7C-B6CE-511D0074FD20}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{EB6D8012-82EE-4C7C-B6CE-511D0074FD20}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/EB6/D80/12/{EB6D8012-82EE-4C7C-B6CE-511D0074FD20}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/EB6/D80/12/{EB6D8012-82EE-4C7C-B6CE-511D0074FD20}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Fiction
      • value: Literature
publishDateText
08/14/2018
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 9780399178788
mediaType
eBook
shortDescription
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In a powerful debut about modern-day motherhood, immigration, and identity, a pregnant Chinese woman stakes a claim to the American dream in California.
“Utterly absorbing.”—Celeste Ng • “A marvel of a first novel.”—O: The Oprah Magazine • “The most eye-opening literary adventure of the year.”—Entertainment Weekly
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • Real Simple
Holed up with other mothers-to-be in a secret maternity home in Los Angeles, Scarlett Chen is far from her native China, where she worked in a factory and fell in love with the married owner, Boss Yeung. Now she’s carrying his baby. To ensure that his child—his first son—has every advantage, Boss Yeung has shipped Scarlett off to give birth on American soil. As Scarlett awaits the...
sortTitle
River of Stars A Novel
lexileScore
970
crossRefId
3845073
subtitle
A Novel
publisher
Random House Publishing Group
bisacCodes
      • code: FIC019000
      • description: Fiction / Literary
      • code: FIC044000
      • description: Fiction / Contemporary Women
      • code: FIC054000
      • description: FICTION / Asian American & Pacific Islander