Three interconnected stories follow teenagers navigating the ordinary and the extraordinary as their lives are impacted by political and global events. In Kleinwald, Germany, in 1939, Hanna and Sophie (both white) find their friendship flailing as War II progresses, but it’s re-energized when they both join the resistance. In 1980, Jenny moves with her image-conscious, upper-middle-class family to Berlin. Jenny (white), an amateur photographer, falls for punk rocker Lena, an East German escapee desperate to get her brother out. Jenny also befriends elderly neighbor Frau Hermann, who tells stories about Sophie and Hanna, two girls from her home village who went missing years before. In March 1980, in New York City, Miles (Filipino/white) is navigating the early days of the pandemic largely on his own. One of his moms, a nurse, is staying with a friend; the other, a photographer, is stuck in Amsterdam. Even as he navigates the unsettling present, including rising tensions around race and racism, he’s also delving into the past: His friend Chloe wants help researching information her grandmother sent about two girls, Sophie and Hanna, who disappeared in Germany in 1941. The three alternating narratives have finely developed characters and plot arcs, while themes of oppression on a global scale and guilt and forgiveness on a personal one resonate across them as a historical mystery unfolds, and the teens at the heart of each story make decisions about standing up and speaking out on behalf of others and themselves. (Age 13 and older)

Instant New York Times Bestseller • A USA Today Bestseller • An Indie Bestseller • A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

"Under the Same Stars will leave you shattered and wildly hopeful." —E. Lockhart, author of We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud

"Stirring and absolutely unforgettable" —Samira Ahmed, New York Times-bestselling author of Internment and Hollow Fires

"Full of banter, romance, humor and a little bit of magic" —Gayle Forman, author of Not Nothing and After Life

From New York Times-bestselling and Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray comes a propulsive historical mystery that examines truth, rebellion, reconciliation, and what must be sacrificed for a better world.

It was said that if you write to the Bridegroom’s Oak, the love of your life will answer back. Now, the tree is giving up its secrets at last.

In 1940s Germany, Sophie is excited to discover a message waiting for her in the Bridegroom's Oak from a mysterious suitor. Meanwhile, her best friend, Hanna, is sending messages too—but not to find love. As World War II unfolds in their small town of Kleinwald, the oak may hold the key to resistance against the Nazis.

In 1980s West Germany, American teen transplant Jenny feels suffocated by her strict parents and is struggling to fit in. Until she finds herself falling for Lena, a punk-rock girl hell-bent on tearing down the wall separating West Germany from East Germany, and meeting Frau Hermann, a kind old lady with secrets of her own.

In Spring 2020, New York City, best friends Miles and Chloe are slogging through the last few months of senior year when an unexpected package from Chloe’s grandmother leads them to investigate a cold case about two unidentified teenagers who went missing under the Bridegroom’s Oak eighty years ago.