The Sky is Everywhereby Jandy Nelson
2010
288 pages
“Later, as he plays and plays, as all the fog burns away, I think, he’s right. That’s exactly it – I am crazy sad, and somewhere deep inside, all I want to do is fly.”
Summary: What do you do when the worst thing that can happen actually happens? Well for seventeen year-old Lennie, that worst thing is her sister Bailey’s sudden death. Despite all her grief and feeling like the world is ending, Lennie finds herself torn between two guys. One, a new guy in town, shares her love of music. When she’s with him, she forgets about being sad, even for just a while. The other is Toby, Bailey’s boyfriend. Even though she knows it’s wrong, being with Toby makes Bailey feel closer, and he is the only one who can possibly understand her grief.
Review: The Sky is Everywhere is a beautiful story of loss and grief and the things that make life worth while again. Readers will enjoy Lennie as a main character. While stories like this can sometimes create one dimensional characters consumed by grief, Lennie was dynamic and complicated. At times of great sadness she was also thinking about kissing boys, I thought Nelson did a beautiful job of capturing something that is so complicated and messy. The supporting characters also added volumes to this book, they were quirky and heartbreaking. I enjoyed Nelson’s writing style and her ability to balance love and hope with pain and suffering.
Summary: What do you do when the worst thing that can happen actually happens? Well for seventeen year-old Lennie, that worst thing is her sister Bailey’s sudden death. Despite all her grief and feeling like the world is ending, Lennie finds herself torn between two guys. One, a new guy in town, shares her love of music. When she’s with him, she forgets about being sad, even for just a while. The other is Toby, Bailey’s boyfriend. Even though she knows it’s wrong, being with Toby makes Bailey feel closer, and he is the only one who can possibly understand her grief.
Review: The Sky is Everywhere is a beautiful story of loss and grief and the things that make life worth while again. Readers will enjoy Lennie as a main character. While stories like this can sometimes create one dimensional characters consumed by grief, Lennie was dynamic and complicated. At times of great sadness she was also thinking about kissing boys, I thought Nelson did a beautiful job of capturing something that is so complicated and messy. The supporting characters also added volumes to this book, they were quirky and heartbreaking. I enjoyed Nelson’s writing style and her ability to balance love and hope with pain and suffering.
This is Jandy Nelson’s debut novel
If you liked The Sky is Everywhere you might also enjoy: The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard, Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder, Hold Still by Nina LaCour and If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Author Website: http://www.jandynelson.com/
Rating: W4/4 C4/4 P3.5/4 O3.5/4 PP3/4 CR3/4
Grade Level Interest: JS
If you liked The Sky is Everywhere you might also enjoy: The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard, Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder, Hold Still by Nina LaCour and If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Author Website: http://www.jandynelson.com/
Rating: W4/4 C4/4 P3.5/4 O3.5/4 PP3/4 CR3/4
Grade Level Interest: JS
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3 comments:
I hear the loveliest things about this book! I started reading it, but I went on vacation and never finished it. I really should. Great review!
I just finished reading this last week. I really loved it. The way Nelson describes things is amazing. I will have to check out those other books you listed, too.
Thanks for the comments. :) Melissa I hope you do get a chance to read it, it's pretty good. It had a little bit of everything, romance, family, love, grief, death, growing up, etc. Well worth the read.
I think If I Stay is probably the most like this book, so if you want something very similar try that. Hold Still is about a girl whose friend committs suicide, very well done.
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