In the inaugural edition of End Notes, we're looking at Tommy Orange's second novel, Wandering Stars (Knopf, Feb.). The sequel to his acclaimed debut, There There (Knopf, 2018), Wandering Stars follows the Bear Shield-Red Feather family as they deal with the fallout from a shooting at an Oakland powwow. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called the book a "devastating narrative" that "confirms Orange’s essential place in the canon of Native American literature."

Here's how the book came together.

Tommy Orange, Author

“I think the sophomore effort comes with a lot of pressure. When writing the first book, I never imagined an audience. The second time around, it was hard to deny that there would be one. I think there are more voices in my head when revising. But in the end, it took the same kind of getting every voice out of the revision space and focusing on sentences and characters.

Nicole Aragi, Agent, Aragi Inc.

“I sold Wandering Stars on the basis of an early draft—a version in which Tommy was still deciding on which family members and voices to concentrate. Tommy has an enormous heart and deep love for his characters.”

Jordan Pavlin, Senior V-P and Editor-in-Chief, Knopf

“The editorial process with Tommy is just pure joy. He has an unerring voice, which makes an editor’s job basically superfluous. From the very first page, you can see he’s in total command. He was always absolutely clear in his vision for this book.”

Linda Huang, Director, Art/Design, Pantheon and Schocken

“I wanted to create a cover from the perspective of Native Americans, not from that of the colonizers. The stars double as metaphorical gunshots that represent the violence and persecution inflicted by the colonizers, as well as literal gunshots that refer to the shooting of Orvil in the story.”

Ruth Liebmann, V-P and Director Account Marketing, Penguin Random House

“Early feedback is ecstatic: booksellers are telling us this is so much more than a follow-up to the first book; it’s a wonderful opportunity to introduce his work to new readers.”