All the Way Around the Sun

From the acclaimed author of This Place Is Still Beautiful comes an evocative, achingly romantic road-trip story about grief, diasporic identities, and the deep-buried secrets that haunt us, perfect for fans of Past Lives and The Farewell.

Stella Chen’s life ground to a halt when her brother unexpectedly passed away a year ago. Raised together by their grandmother for years in the Chinese countryside before rejoining their parents in the United States, his absence destroys the connective tissue in her family. With another jarring move her senior year, from rural Illinois to unfamiliar surroundings in San Diego, she is left alone and adrift in her family’s suffocating silence and the void of unanswered questions her brother left behind.

So when Stella’s parents force her to join her estranged childhood friend Alan Zhao for a college tour all over California, Stella dreads it. Alan is a reminder of everything Stella wishes she could be—popular, gregarious, unburdened—and a reminder of how lost she is.

As this road trip takes Stella and Alan down beautiful coastlines and through fraught family dynamics, Stella can’t help but feel the spark of why she and Alan were once so close. Before long, they find themselves pulled into each other’s orbits, forcing unspoken feelings and long-hidden truths into the light.

"Tian smartly builds countless layers into this road trip narrative, delving deeply into the complexities of the immigrant experience, the painful pursuit of academic success, and the heaviness grief and guilt can carry." - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

"Tian crafts an evocative story following a high school senior who must navigate the aftermath of a devastating loss and its ripple effects. Through Stella, Tian attentively considers immigrant diasporic struggles in the U.S. and finding connection while grappling with grief and guilt. Fans of Past Lives and The Farewell will resonate with this emotionally charged road trip novel." - Publishers Weekly

"A stirring emotional journey. Stella’s intimate narrative is a deeply moving story of secrets, grief, belonging, and family bonds." - Kirkus Reviews