66 pages 2 hours read

Rick Riordan, Mark Oshiro

The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2023

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Themes

Trauma and Mental Health

The novel deals openly and often with subjects relating to trauma and mental health. Both Nico and Will work through their traumatic memories in the Underworld and tend to their mental wellness by examining their relationship to darkness. In the novel, “darkness” is a mutable signifier whose precise meaning is contextually dependent. At times it refers to negative emotions like sadness, pain, or jealousy. Other times it refers to mental health, which is “our emotional, psychological, and social well-being” (“About Mental Health.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). The book also sometimes refers to Nico’s specific mental health conditions, like PTSD, which in his case is related to traumas he experienced.

Readers should thus take care to closely examine a passage before assuming the word darkness refers to a specific mental health condition. For instance, when Will talks about his darkness, he is not referencing mental health, even though he does have painful memories. As the camp healer, he knows how “heartbreakingly mortal” (101) his friends are after seeing them dead and dying after battles featured throughout the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles. As he grew up, his mother was constantly touring, so he is familiar with isolation.

Related Titles

By these authors

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Anger Is a Gift

Mark Oshiro

Anger Is a Gift

Mark Oshiro

Study Guide
logo

Daughter of the Deep

Rick Riordan

Daughter of the Deep

Rick Riordan

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

The Battle of the Labyrinth

Rick Riordan

The Battle of the Labyrinth

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The Blood of Olympus

Rick Riordan

The Blood of Olympus

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The Burning Maze

Rick Riordan

The Burning Maze

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The Chalice of the Gods

Rick Riordan

The Chalice of the Gods

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The Dark Prophecy

Rick Riordan

The Dark Prophecy

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The Hammer of Thor

Rick Riordan

The Hammer of Thor

Rick Riordan

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

The Hidden Oracle

Rick Riordan

The Hidden Oracle

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The House of Hades

Rick Riordan

The House of Hades

Rick Riordan

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

The Last Olympian

Rick Riordan

The Last Olympian

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The Lightning Thief

Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief

Rick Riordan

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

The Lost Hero

Rick Riordan

The Lost Hero

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The Mark Of Athena

Rick Riordan

The Mark Of Athena

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The Maze of Bones

Rick Riordan

The Maze of Bones

Rick Riordan

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

The Red Pyramid

Rick Riordan

The Red Pyramid

Rick Riordan

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

The Sea of Monsters

Rick Riordan

The Sea of Monsters

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The Son of Neptune

Rick Riordan

The Son of Neptune

Rick Riordan

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

The Sword of Summer

Rick Riordan

The Sword of Summer

Rick Riordan

Study Guide
logo

The Throne of Fire

Rick Riordan

The Throne of Fire

Rick Riordan