68 pages • 2 hours read
Ryka AokiLight from Uncommon Stars
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 1, Chapters 6-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1: “February”
Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary
After a horrible date, Katrina considers stepping into traffic and ending her life, but the smell of food holds her back. She eats and decides to find Shizuka’s house. When she arrives, a neighbor asks if she’s a girl or boy, and Katrina flees.
The next day, Shizuka returns to Starrgate Donut. Sensing her mother’s interest, Shirley convinces Lan to visit the park and feed ducks with Shizuka. At the park, as the two women talk, Lan gets lost in her thoughts about the galactic war. Shizuka, assuming that the Trans are Vietnamese refugees, comments that getting here must’ve been difficult. Shocked, Lan asks Shizuka how she knew they escaped from the Galactic Empire, realizing too late that she has given her secret away.
Part 1, Chapter 7 Summary
Katrina discovers that Evan and his friends have sold her violin to a pawn shop; she finally loses her temper. After attacking Evan, she grabs her belongings and flees. In the park, Lan confesses to Shizuka that she and her family came to Earth to build a stargate so tourists could view a gamma ray burst that will happen in several years. Shizuka, in turn, tells Lan about her deal with Tremon Philippe. Lan listens to Shizuka’s voice, but she doesn’t really listen to what she’s saying. As they talk, Katrina arrives in tears and tells Shizuka what happened.
Shizuka and Lan go with Katrina to the pawn shop and demand the violin back, saying it was stolen. When the owner refuses, Shizuka uses her supernatural influence to terrorize him into returning it for free. After, Katrina slips into shock, and Lan puts her into a sleeplike trance. Noticing that Katrina is undernourished and suffering from a fractured rib, Lan uses alien technology to heal her. Back at Shizuka’s house, Astrid and Shizuka take Katrina inside to rest. Shizuka goes to her private room to practice, and Astrid reflects that the most tragic part of Shizuka’s deal is that she can no longer perform.
Part 1, Chapter 8 Summary
On waking, Katrina is shocked to find her injuries healed. Though terrified that Astrid will react badly to discovering that she’s trans, Katrina takes a much-needed bath; Astrid gives no reaction, only informing her that Shizuka will take her to repair her violin shortly. In a daze, Katrina explores Shizuka’s house. Katrina asks why there are no recordings of Shizuka online but doesn’t get an answer.
Part 1, Chapter 9 Summary
At breakfast, Shizuka observes that in contrast to her previous students, Katrina has no sense of her potential. She is constantly terrified and apologizing. Katrina confesses she has no money, but Shizuka tells her not to worry.
They go to South Arroyo, a “quaint and picturesque” (76) part of town. Katrina feels out of place and, thinking Shizuka doesn’t know, confesses that she’s transgender. To her shock, Shizuka doesn’t care. They enter a shop called Grunfeld’s, where everyone stares at Katrina. When Shizuka asks the owner to fix the violin, he repeatedly misgenders Katrina and refers to her violin as “Oriental junk” (80). Shizuka leaves and takes Katrina to brunch. Half an hour later, the owner suffers a sudden heart attack, implied to have been Shizuka’s doing.
Part 1, Chapter 10 Summary
In a different part of town, Lucy Matía arrives at her family’s violin shop, where a portrait of her grandfather constantly looms over her. The Matía family were once famous luthiers, but although Lucy has “the hands of a Matía” (88), she was excluded from the business because of her gender. Nonetheless, since neither of her brothers had any talent or interest in the business, she now runs it with her son, Andrew. Lucy is shocked when Shizuka enters and asks her to repair Katrina’s violin. Lucy also initially misgenders Katrina, after which Shizuka corrects her and insists that she apologize. Yet when Shizuka demands several elaborate repairs, Lucy accepts the job—only to wonder afterward what possessed her to do so. On the drive home, Katrina thanks Shizuka for standing up for her and shares that as a child, she had a violin that would sing to her about flying away, but her father smashed it.
Part 1, Chapter 11 Summary
As Lucy starts fixing Katrina’s violin, she discovers that Katrina modified it in unexpected ways; Lucy calls Shizuka to tell her she’ll need more time. Lucy’s son, Andrew, thinks bitterly about the way Lucy’s grandfather treated her and marvels at how freely Lucy can exercise her skills now. At Shizuka’s house, Katrina finally asks about the cost of everything; Shizuka decides now is not the time to tell Katrina about the deal with Tremon. Shizuka leads Katrina to the practice room and tells her to choose any of the numerous violins there to use for practicing. The one Katrina instinctively selects is Shizuka’s first violin, named “Martha.”
Part 1, Chapters 6-11 Analysis
Although Lan Tran and her family are the most absurd science-fiction element in this novel, their story is grounded in the reality of real-world refugees. Before discovering the truth, Shizuka assumes that Lan and her family are refugees from Vietnam, and she recalls how the first Vietnamese refugees to the San Gabriel Valley were treated: “Teachers would ask them not to open their lunches because they stank. Neighbors would call the police when they dried cuttlefish in their backyards” (57). While Lan’s experiences are not exactly the same as Vietnamese refugees, her story embodies the theme of The Struggles of Refugees and Outsiders. Lan lives in constant fear of being discovered, even when she should relaxed, such as when she is sitting on a bench feeding ducks with Shizuka.
While these chapters depict the blossoming of Shizuka and Lan’s relationship, the seeds of later problems are also present. Music is the most important thing to Shizuka, but in Lan’s “civilization had long evolved beyond believing in supernatural beings and souls and music. And, in her reality, no one would think to attach such importance, such meaning, to music” (63). Lan still views humanity as somewhat backward and simple, and this attitude extends to Shizuka despite Lan’s infatuation. When Shizuka shares her own experiences, Lan listens to the sound of her voice but doesn’t process her words. When Shizuka and Lan break up in Chapter 16, Shizuka recalls that “Lan had never stopped assuming that music was the trivial diversion of a backward planet. And if Lan felt that way about her music, then how did Lan feel about her?” (152). Lan’s perspective on both music and Shizuka will go through several changes as the story progresses, tying into the theme of The Transformative Power of Music.
This section also introduces Lucy Matía, another character who personifies several important themes in the story. As a woman in a family that prizes men, she also experiences The Struggles of Refugees and Outsiders on a personal familial level. In addition, Lucy’s character arc adds further nuance to the themes of Identity and the Struggle for Self-Acceptance and The Influence of Parents on Children. Lucy’s gender prevented her from reaching her true potential as the heir of her grandfather and father. Both men recognized that she was talented but refused to include her in their business because she was a woman; their rejection has led Lucy to view herself as unqualified and unworthy. Her son, Andrew, who sees the situation more clearly, laments this mistreatment over the years. He remembers:
his mother cringing, apologizing, calling herself stupid when lunch wasn’t on time or when that bastard felt the shop was too dusty, too noisy, too empty, too full. Even now, his mother would flinch whenever she heard an unexpected noise, or anyone entered the store. Such things are music, too (97).
Yet, despite seeing herself as an unworthy heir to her grandfather’s legacy, Lucy accepts an opportunity to exercise her skills thanks to Shizuka. This choice starts Lucy off on a path of self-acceptance that will ultimately allow her to revive the family business and secure, as well as transform, her family’s legacy.
Throughout these chapters, Shizuka struggles to connect with Katrina. While she never treats Katrina as inferior because of her gender identity, she doesn’t immediately understand the anxiety Katrina feels when she brings her to Grunfeld’s. This blind spot is swiftly corrected, however, as Shizuka soon sees that she won’t be able to treat Katrina like her previous students. Moreover, Katrina won’t be easily tempted by the deal with the devil. While “Hell favored people who recognized their brilliance, who believed they deserved success” (75), Katrina doesn’t see herself this way. She can’t yet be tempted by the intoxicating lies of Hell because “at present, she could barely handle her truth” (75). In the context of supporting Katrina as a young transgender woman, Shizuka's swift adjustments highlight The Inevitability of Change and Transition and foreshadow the greater shift to come in Shizuka’s character.
