Rise To The Sun by Leah Johnson is a heartwarming young adult romance and music fiction novel that highlights the importance of being true to yourself and following your heart.
Olivia has mastered the art of falling in love but she has also excelled at being dumped. When her last relationship crashed and burned, Olivia became a social pariah at school and at home and now she fully intends to start over from scratch. A footloose and fancy-free girls’ weekend at the Farmland Music and Arts Festival with her best friend, Imani, is just what she needs to free her mind from all her problems.
Toni has a difficult choice to make—she can either go to college and please her mom or pursue a musical career and satisfy her heart’s desire. She is confused about what she wants to do with her life and she is still mourning the loss of her musician-always-on-tour father. Toni firmly believes that going back to the music festival where her father’s career began would be the best place for her to find the answers she is seeking because she really wants to make the right choice and move on with her life.
A simple twist of fate brings these two strong-willed girls together at the Farmland Music and Arts Festival. They never thought that they would end up falling deeply and hopelessly in love with each other when they decided to work together to achieve their goals. As Toni and Olivia work together, a few unforeseen circumstances occur at the festival and their well-made plans go awry.
Will Olivia and Toni be able to set their fears aside and take a chance on love?
Pros And My Favourite Parts
Just when I thought that I couldn’t love another book as much as I loved You Should See Me In A Crown, this seriously talented author has surpassed my greatest expectations with this fabulous story. There is absolutely nothing in this world that could be better than devouring this story because it clearly portrays Black girls who are dealing with grief, anxiety, panic attacks, betrayals and feelings of unworthiness while they are growing closer and falling for each other. I also like the fact that Toni and Olivia’s problems did not magically disappear when they fell in love and their relationship seemed more realistic to me as a result of that. I was living my best life when I tagged along with Olivia, Toni, Imani and Peter because I felt as though I was seeing and experiencing all the fun activities and live music shows at the Farmland Music and Arts Festival. By the way, I really adore this beautiful book cover!
Cons And Heads Up
There were a few scenes that portrayed a public shooting, sharing sexual photos of a minor and a fatal shooting and robbery incident and those scenes could be triggers for some readers.
The Conclusion
Without a doubt, this story will definitely be at the top of my “favorite-books-of-all-time” list because Leah Johnson created fully fleshed out, relatable and flawed characters who did their best to work through their emotional baggage. Plus, I love how the author depicted unequal friendships and strained family relationships in this novel. If you’re a huge fan of books that highlight the healing power of live music shows and unexpected romances, then this is the perfect story for you!
Excerpt from Rise To The Sun by Leah Johnson
She’s smiling, and it’s bright and winning and if I were another type of person with a different type of damage, I’d probably be charmed. But I’m not. So as it stands, I’m just getting more and more frustrated.
“You don’t make sense.”
I keep walking, but she marches right alongside me. I’ve never seen someone so unwilling to be shaken, especially by me, except for maybe Peter. Normally it doesn’t take much more than a look to keep people from sitting at my table in the cafeteria or trying to partner with me in AP Chem or sell me something on the street. There’s a reason my classmates used to call me Mrs. Claus, and it’s not because of my proclivity for cookie baking and rosy cheeks.
It’s because I’m the ice queen. And I’m usually very good at it.
“I do make sense, Grumpy Gussie, you’re just not paying attention,” she says. “I’m saying we make this a trade. Then it’s less like I’m doing you a favor and more like this is an even exchange. A meeting of the minds!”
I stop. I don’t respond, and she takes that as her cue to continue with her proposal.
“Have you heard of #FoundAtFarmland?”
Of course. Of freaking course this girl wants help finding those stupid apples for that stupid scavenger hunt. I should have guessed. All Farmland newbies fall into the trap of trying to accomplish those promotional gimmicks. One year it’s a social media campaign run by Live Nation to see who can add the most posts to their hashtag in exchange for a year’s worth of free concert tickets. The next it’s something even more obnoxious. And it’s never about the music.
Past the fact that it’s ridiculous, and honestly mortifying (my dad would roll over in his grave if he knew I was participating in some capitalist marketing scheme that used live music as a means to ply people into buying more and consuming more), it’s also impossible. And I tell her so.
“This festival is on seven hundred acres of land. There’s no way you’ll find them all.”
“It’s not impossible for someone like you. Someone who knows this place as well as you must after so many years of being here.” She shrugs. “If you need me just as badly as I need you, then you know I can’t let you down. Right?”
She pushes her heart-shaped sunglasses into her hair and holds out a hand like it’s already a done deal. Like her argument has been made and it was so undeniably effective I have no choice but to buy in. And maybe she’s right. What choice do I have? Without any other plans, I’m headed to Bloomington next week, no questions asked. I’ll be the daughter my mom raised me to be, one who makes solid decisions and sticks to them. So unless I get on stage, and like my dad always said, it reveals another option, then college it is. That’s how this works.
“I would really like to win that car.” Olivia holds her hand up even higher and smiles even wider. “And I would like to help you win that competition. So, what do you say?”
I don’t have any more strikes to spare, so I decide to wipe the slate clean. A fresh start.
I try to settle the screaming in the back of my brain telling me that this is a bad idea, that Toni Foster doesn’t do this, that I can’t do this, that I should not do this. That the more you rely on other people, the easier it is to get screwed over. I take her hand and do my best to ignore how her palm fits perfectly in mine.
“Fine.” I shake once. “I’m in.”
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 9781338662238
Publisher: Scholastic Press
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