The Kingsley Family’s American Dream

The Sun is Also a Star

The Kingsley family’s move for opportunity becomes a long struggle between Samuel’s ambitions, Patricia’s sacrifices, and the reality of removal.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Samuel Goes First Samuel Goes First from "The Sun is Also a Star". A Staged Beginning The Acting Plan Samuel travels ahead to build a life as an actor, expecting his separation from family to last one year.

Samuel Goes First from "The Sun is Also a Star". A Staged Beginning The Acting Plan Samuel travels ahead to build a life as an actor, expecting his separation from family to last one year.

A Staged Beginning The Acting Plan Samuel travels ahead to build a life as an actor, expecting his separation from family to last one year. Delay Becomes Pattern The plan stretches to two years, exposing the distance between his promise and what he can achieve.

Family Reunification Family Reunification from "The Sun is Also a Star". A New Country The Move Patricia and Natasha leave Jamaica to join Samuel in the United States, believing the sacrifice may lead to prosperity.

Family Reunification from "The Sun is Also a Star". A New Country The Move Patricia and Natasha leave Jamaica to join Samuel in the United States, believing the sacrifice may lead to prosperity.

A New Country The Move Patricia and Natasha leave Jamaica to join Samuel in the United States, believing the sacrifice may lead to prosperity. A Child’s Arrival Natasha remembers the reunion as loving, even as the family’s future remains uncertain.

Dreams Narrow Dreams Narrow from "The Sun is Also a Star". Hope Wears Down Work and Rejection Samuel struggles to find acting roles, while the family remains in a cramped apartment and Patricia works to support them.

Dreams Narrow from "The Sun is Also a Star". Hope Wears Down Work and Rejection Samuel struggles to find acting roles, while the family remains in a cramped apartment and Patricia works to support them.

Hope Wears Down Work and Rejection Samuel struggles to find acting roles, while the family remains in a cramped apartment and Patricia works to support them. Unequal Sacrifice His dream increasingly occupies the space where shared plans and practical security should have been.

The Play and Arrest The Play and Arrest from "The Sun is Also a Star". A Brief Triumph A Performance Samuel finally performs in A Raisin in the Sun, appearing more fully alive onstage than at home.

The Play and Arrest from "The Sun is Also a Star". A Brief Triumph A Performance Samuel finally performs in A Raisin in the Sun, appearing more fully alive onstage than at home.

A Brief Triumph A Performance Samuel finally performs in A Raisin in the Sun, appearing more fully alive onstage than at home. A Catastrophic Disclosure After drinking, he crashes into a police car and reveals the family’s undocumented status to an officer.

A Family Faces Removal A Family Faces Removal from "The Sun is Also a Star". The Cost of the Dream Removal Looms After the family’s legal efforts fail, Natasha spends the final day trying to reverse the outcome.

A Family Faces Removal from "The Sun is Also a Star". The Cost of the Dream Removal Looms After the family’s legal efforts fail, Natasha spends the final day trying to reverse the outcome.

The Cost of the Dream Removal Looms After the family’s legal efforts fail, Natasha spends the final day trying to reverse the outcome. Leaving Together The family prepares to return to Jamaica, carrying unresolved hurt as well as a renewed obligation to one another.

two years before Patricia and Natasha move

when Natasha is eight years old

the years after the family settles in Brooklyn

several weeks before the main story

the day Natasha and Daniel meet