Super Fake Love Song by David Yoon

Bibliographic Information:

• Title: Super Fake Love Song
• Author: David Yoon
• ISBN: 1984812238
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
• Copyright Date: November 17, 2020

Genre: Fiction/Contemporary Fiction/Romance

Format: Print Book

Awards/Honors: YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults nominee 2021

Reading Level/Interest Level: Teen Grades 8-12, Ages 15-18 (Baker & Taylor Titlesource360)

Plot Summary: When total nerd Sunny Dae meets a beautiful, very cool, new girl in town named Cirrus, he instantly falls in love. Cirrus accidentally goes into Sunny’s “rock star” brother’s bedroom and thinks that Sunny is a rock star, not a Dungeons and Dragons role playing nerd. Sunny convinces his two best friends, Milo and Jamal, to form a fake rock band with him to impress Cirrus. Sunny starts dressing in his brother Gray’s clothes, listening to Gray’s music, and learns how to play his old guitar. With the help of the music teacher at school, the trio learns one of Gray’s original songs well enough to enter the school’s talent show.

Meanwhile, Sunny becomes more comfortable in his new persona and gains the confidence to stand up to and become friends with the school bully. He knows that he should not be lying to Cirrus and pretending to be something he is not but does not know how to tell her this. Sunny and Cirrus eventually fall in love, until the night of the big talent show when Sunny’s world collapses. The moral of the story- “be yourself!”

Author Background: David Yoon is the author of the New York Times bestseller Frankly in Love. He grew up in Orange County, California, and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, author Nicola Yoon, and their daughter. Yoon illustrated his wife’s novel Everything, Everything. His first adult book, Vision Zero, is due to be published in May, 2021.

Yoon, 47, has been a life-long writer. His books are based on his childhood, the son of Korean immigrants living in southern California. In Super Fake Love Song, Yoon based the character of Sunny on what he was like growing up.

Critical Evaluation: Super Fake Love Song is fun, light, romantic comedy. It is engaging, well written, and funny. Although the story touches on bullying, diversity, being true to oneself, family issues, and coming of age, these topics are overshadowed by the romance of the story. The characters are well developed and believable. The story is told in the first person point of view of seventeen-year-old Sunny, a Korean-American, who narrates the entire book. Slang is used frequently which at times, I had trouble following. The descriptions of the high school, students, teachers, and coaches that Sunny and his friends attend were hilarious. The messages in the book of being true to yourself and not trying to keep up with the Joneses, are delivered in a light-hearted, entertaining style. Young Adults in high school who like love stories mixed with comedy will find this book hard to put down.

Creative Use for a Library Program: Since Sunny and his friends created a “fake” rock band, a perfect tie-in for a library program would be to play the video games Guitar Hero (if it is still available), Rock Band, or No Straight Roads for Nintendo Switch. I would start with a brief book discussion, followed by the video games and snacks. I would provide snacks that the characters in the book ate or discussed, such as nachos, pizza, or hot dogs. Rock and Roll and heavy metal music would be playing in the background, and I would set up a monitor and show YouTube videos of these genres of music.

Speed-Round Book Talk: Have you ever fallen so hard in love with someone that you would do anything to impress them? When super-nerd Sunny Dae meets the super-cool Cirrus Soh, this is exactly what happens! Cirrus mistakenly thinks that Sunny is in a rock band, and to her he is very cool. Sunny convinces his two best friends to form a fake band to impress Cirrus. Sunny takes on a rock star persona and his whole world starts to change. See how this love story unfolds as Cirrus falls in love with the “fake” Sunny.

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation: The only potential challenge I could see for this book would be the portrayal of Korean-Americans. Sunny’s parents are super-competitive and always trying to keep up with the Joneses and have the best of everything. They put a lot of pressure on their sons to be perfect. The author, David Yoon, based the characters on his own life so that could be a defense for the stereotype. Besides that, the book has diverse characters, mild swearing, some kissing but no sex, and some drinking.

Reason for Inclusion: I included this book because sometimes you feel like reading something light that isn’t trying to make a point or change the world. Although the book touches on bullying, diversity, finding oneself, and coming of age, it is a funny, charming, and entertaining read.

References:

Canfield, D. (2019, September 3). With Frankly in Love, David Yoon is poised to be YA’s next superstar. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved from https://ew.com/author-interviews/2019/09/03/frankly-in-love-david-yoon/

DavidYoon. (N.D.) About. DavidYoon.com. Retrieved from https://www.davidyoon.com/about-02

Growchowski, S. (202, November 17.) Q & A with David Yoon. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved from https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/84919-q-a-with-david-yoon.htm

Penguin Random House. (2020, August 22). David Yoon reads from SUPER FAKE LOVE SONG. [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yvYDXV7u9E&t=60s&ab_channel=PenguinRandomHouse

Penguin Teen. (2020, November 6). Super Fake Love Song by David Yoon | official book trailer. [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph5Hnt_-xfg&ab_channel=PenguinTeen