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Module 4 - Book Review 3 - UNDER THE SAME STARS: by Libba Bray


 Module 4 – Book Review 3 

Review of Libba Bray’s UNDER THE SAME STARS 

*This review was written for a course through Sam Houston State University. 

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bray, Libba (2025). UNDER THE SAME STARS. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). ISBN: 978-0374388942 

2. PLOT SUMMARY 

Under the Same Stars tells three separate stories across different time periods, and they are all connected by one mystery. In 1941 Germany, there are two best friends, Sophie and Hanna, who disappear in the midst of struggles under Nazi rule. This is a difficult time when people have to face hard choices about what is right. The next storyline comes in 1980 Berlin and focuses on a teenage girl named Jenny who meets Lena. Lena is in the punk rock scene and has secrets from her past. The last storyline takes place in 2020 Brooklyn during the COVID-19 pandemic and is about a boy named Miles who helps his friend Chloe to investigate a mysterious package from Chloe’s grandmother containing clues that tie back to what happened to Sophie and Hanna in Nazi Germany. Throughout the novel, a fairy tale, The Tale of the Hare and Deer, appears and changes throughout to connect all three time periods. It shows how young people throughout history have dealt with oppression and somehow found hope. The book focuses on facing difficult times with courage and purpose, something that doesn’t change throughout history. 

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS  

Libba Bray's Under the Same Stars uses three different time periods (1941 Nazi Germany, 1980 Berlin, and 2020 Brooklyn) that are all connected by the mystery of two friends who disappear. This tie helps readers understand how resistance and courage show up differently across history. The disappearance of Sophie and Hanna serves as the main storyline that connects all three stories. As the readers piece together the clues, it shows that Sophie and Hanna made difficult choices that affected their lives in ways both good and bad. The idea is that they refuse simple ideas of right and wrong. Bray shows that each time period has its own form of rebellion. First, Sophie and Hanna faced Nazi occupation, and then Jenny and Lena joined the punk rock scene during the Cold War. Finally, the story tells of Miles and Chloe as they go through the pandemic in 2020. This suggests that young people in each era have to find ways to resist and survive whatever comes their way. The fairy tale "The Hare and the Deer" that appears throughout the book keeps changing and becoming darker. This specific story acts like a mirror to the main story and suggests that history isn't one clear truth but rather many interpretations that change and are interpreted by whoever tells it. By including the COVID-19 pandemic, Bray helps to validate what readers are experiencing in today’s society. It shows that people today still face real moral challenges and not just historical ones. The author’s strength in this story is that it doesn't offer easy answers or any type of perfect redemption. What it does show is that the realities of survival and guilt are messy, and trauma really does affect people across every generation. Bray’s connection of three different historical moments shows how one person's choices can impact the future. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) 

Booklist starred (February 1, 2025 (Vol. 121, No. 11)) 

Libba Bray’s masterful, heart-wrenching historical novel weaves together stories of love and resistance in three alternating time lines—World War II Germany, 1980 Berlin, and 2020 Brooklyn. Two 17-year-old best friends, Sophie and Hanna, disappear on Winter Solstice night, 1941, under the Bridegroom’s Oak in their German village. In contrast, there’s Jenny and Lena in the summer of 1980. Jenny Campbell’s father moves the family from Dallas to West Berlin for his work. Flashing to a more modern moment, Miles is a Brooklyn high-school senior spending the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown playing online games with friends between Zoom classes. Themes of forgiveness, resistance, and redemption braid the three time lines together. 

Horn Book Magazine (March/April, 2025) 

In this ambitious work, Bray alternates three seemingly disparate stories, briefly braiding them into one near the novel's end. In 1940s Germany, Sophie and Hanna are devotees of the Bridegroom's Oak, a hollow tree famed as a post box for exchanging love letters. In the 1980s, overprotected Texan teen Jenny, who has moved with her family to West Berlin, takes on a new, rebellious life when she falls in love with punk band founder Lena, who is determined to pull off a dangerous rescue in East Berlin. And in 2020s Brooklyn, under COVID-19 lockdown, Miles and Chloe use their Zoom meetings to translate clippings and letters belonging to Chloe's German grandmother. Thematic connections among the three milieux are patent, from fascist "making Germany great again" to perilously restrictive communist East Germany to the murder of George Floyd.  

Kirkus Reviews starred (December 15, 2024) 

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. 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. Bray’s immersive third-person narrative seamlessly navigates past and present, weaving together themes of power, remorse, forgiveness, and hope. 

Publishers Weekly (November 4, 2024) 

Three generations of teens find themselves while fighting for change in this inspiring historical mystery from Bray (the Diviners series). Bray’s intimate third-person narrative kaleidoscopes back and forth in time, interweaving the three story lines and highlighting their internal resonance. Though the setup is occasionally awkward, nuanced, gratifying character arcs and a harrowing, emotionally charged third act send this lengthy novel out on a high note. 

School Library Journal (February 1, 2025) 

Three generations are connected by a tragic event in Nazi Germany. While the long chapters and multiple points of view make it challenging to follow the narrative, the story remains a powerful testament to hope and resistance. 

5. CONNECTIONS  

Related Books – Other books about resistance, moral choices across generations, and reimagining history 

  • Wein, Elizabeth. CODE NAME VERITY: 978-0374318529 

  • Zusak, Markus. THE BOOK THIEF: 978-0375831010 

  • Make a visual map or timeline of community influences on young people 

  • Compare real-life challenges to those faced in the story 

Activities and Extensions 

  • Have students create a timeline of resistance across the three eras 

  • Identify how each generation’s form of resistance  

  • Ask students to investigate real historical events 

  • Research WWII Germany 

  • Research the Berlin Wall and Cold War punk rock scene 

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