How We Named the Stars

‘Hearing you say my name was a way of seeing myself as I had never seen myself … you gave my name new meaning, new weight.’

Nerdy and shy, scholarship student Daniel de La Luna arrives at college nervous to meet his golden-haired, athletic roommate, whose Facebook photos depict a boy just like those who made Daniel’s school years hell.

Sam Morris is not what he had imagined, though. As the two settle into college life they drink tequila under the stars, go on long runs through snow-covered hills, explore freshman nightlife, and inch closer until they find themselves in love.

But their blissful first year is over all too soon. Daniel’s summer in his ancestral homeland of México becomes a rollercoaster of revelations, before his life is brutally upended by the unimaginable.

How We Named the Stars is a tale of love, heartache and learning to honour the dead. Daniel and Sam will leave you forever changed.

Reviews of How We Named the Stars

One of the Observer’s 2024 Top Ten Debuts

"Ordorica constructs the world of the novel with unrelenting care, weaving together the beauty of love with the beauty of the natural world" New York Times

"Debut novelist Ordorica's tender coming-of-age novel is styled as a heart-rending letter written after a first love ends in tragedy" Washington Post, Best Books of January

"Daniel de La Luna is a first-generation Mexican college student carrying the dreams of his family as he matriculates into a well-known university in the East Coast. Struggling to adjust to this new environment he finds solace in his roommate Sam, who helps Daniel discover what love for him could look like." Today Show, Best News Books of 2024

‘A sensitive story of a first love, How We Named the Stars is a nuanced coming-of-age novel about hiding, heartbreak, and healing’ Foreword Reviews

‘Heartfelt’ Alta Journal

‘Dazzling … a heartbreaking tale of a first-generation college student exploring his sexuality and roots while reckoning with grief. Ordorica portrays Daniel and Sam’s encounters with tenderness and heat, and Daniel’s aching and poignant narration … is chock-full of wisdom’ –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

‘Ordorica delves into love and loss in two places and two times to powerful effect’ Booklist

‘Told with authenticity and compassion, this unconventional love story redefines notions of fraternity’ Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

‘Novels this well-written remind us reading is an intimacy, an immersive experience that enriches us beyond measure’ Eduardo C. Corral, author of Guillotine

‘Andrés N. Ordorica has written an intimate, necessary story of first love, first loss, and the promise of new beginnings. This empowering novel is required reading for anyone struggling to uncover their most authentic self’ Zak Salih, author of Let’s Get Back to the Party

‘How We Named the Stars is a novel of first love and last rites. Ordorica captures perfectly the challenges of building a life out of experience, out of allowing ourselves to feel everything. A beautiful tale of friendship and the comfort found in stories of the past and in the arms of elders, living and dead’ Richard Mirabella, author of Brother & Sister Enter the Forest

‘Andrés N. Ordorica has captured the crushing isolation of navigating an elite college for the first time, all while experiencing a powerful, yet unattainable first love … This novel is an extended meditation on the relationship between joy and grief, and how it can bind and heal both a life and a family’ –Analicia Sotelo, author of Virgin

‘Love and loss, freedom and security, sex and identity―Andrés N. Ordorica’s How We Named the Stars explores the desires and fears that live within us, that surface despite our attempts to tame or quiet them … The story of Daniel and Sam will be with us for years to come’ Eloisa Amezcua, author of Fighting Is Like a Wife

‘In How We Named the Stars, Andrés N. Ordorica has crafted a radiant and deeply moving novel about the beauty and pain of love―for our partners, our families, and ourselves. An impressive emotional tour de force, and an extraordinary debut.’ –Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men