The Sky is Everywhere

Author: Jandy Nelson

Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary.

Editorial: Dial Books

Year: 2010

Ranking: 4,8/ 5

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life - and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two.

Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.

The Author

Jandy Nelson is an American writer for children and young adults and a literary agent. She received a BA from Cornell, an MFA from Brown in poetry, and another MFA from Vermont College in writing for children and young adults. She is also a published poet. The Sky Is Everywhere is her first novel. The Sky is everywhere is noted as one of YALSA's 2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults and has earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Voices of Youth Advocates. Her second novel, I'll give you The Sun, was published in June 2014.

At the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Nelson participated in panel discussions. She was on the panel "Young Adult Fiction: Teens and Turmoil" with Gayle Forman, Cynthia Kadohata and moderator Sonya Sones during the 2010 event

Personal Experience with this Book

The reason I started reading this book was that when I read "I'll give you the Sun" by the same author I was so delighted with her writing that I decided to read every novel she writes out without even thinking twice. I read the book in two days. Basically I read the first part in about two hours and the second part in two other hours. Only in two different days. It is a BEAUTIFUL story.

The story itself is pretty sad. I mean; the book deals with the issue of loss of a loved one and the way how people live with the pain that they feel when that happens. And the fact that we feel misunderstood by most people around us, that we feel guilty about smiling and having fun when you should be sad and, that it's hard to get the words to talk about it. So, when you are about to read this book, you have to be aware that you will not find a pink colored story where love is beautiful and everyone is happy. It is a book that touches your heart because of the pain its characters feels.

I felt very overwhelmed and upset with Lennie by what happened with Toby. The truth is that it was something that It did not fit in my head. At first, I was angry to see how she and Toby took this loss and their pain. It was as if the fact that both of them have lost a common someone who they loved was the answer to make everything happen between them. They needed that affection and the look for comfort in one another. It was good that Lennie soon realized that what she was feeling for Toby wasn’t love at all. And it could not be compare to what she was feeling for Joe.

The writing style of the author is poetry. Indeed she has such a beautiful way of writing that I will never be tired of repeating it. You fall in love with her characters as she describes them. You can imagine each of the stages she talks about as she describes them and; you can even get to experience those feelings described yourself as you read the book.

My favorite part of the book was definitely the notes written by Lennie and left throughout the city. I think they were marvelous! And you felt much closer to her and her feelings for Joe, to Bailey, to Toby and to herself. You get to know her well because of those little notes. I loved them.

A book that I recommend with my eyes closed. One author I recommend eye closed, really. If you want something that will touch you heart this book or “I'll give you the Sun” will do that for you. For sure.