Book Review: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Release Date: March 9, 2010
Publisher: Dial Books
Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 288

Book Source: My local library.

Summary:
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 sister Bailey. But when Bailey dies suddenly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, 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. (From Jandy Nelson's website)
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This is a beautiful book. For about the first half, however, I thought differently.

Lennie spends a lot of time obsessing about her tragically dead sister--I get this, and it's even well done. My problem was Lennie's constant marvelling at her sudden awareness of boys and her new sexy thoughts. What really took the cake, though, was Lennie's repetitive whining about her guilt over kissing Bailey's (the dead sister's) boyfriend, Toby, while developing a relationship with a new boy named Joe and shutting her family and friends out of the whole sorry mess.

I contemplated putting the book down several times, but I kept reading out of a mad desire to know how and if Lennie's various train wrecks would be sorted out and because, for a story with such loss and grief in it, it's surprisingly funny. Also, Joe. He's handsome, musical, and a good reason to keep reading anything.

At one point, I wanted to put the book down not because Lennie was annoying me, but because I couldn't stand the pain she was about to go through in the Toby-Joe climax. That's when I knew this was a well-crafted story; I was starting to care about Lennie. I was uncomfortable and embarrassed and falling apart inside with her, for her.

From there the book becomes amazing. Everything deepens from the first to the second half, and I couldn't put Part Two down. The increasingly sophisticated plot threads and relationships between characters reflect Lennie's growth. Beyond first love and agonizing loss, Lennie also gains insights into her family. She lives with her Grandma and her Uncle Big, who are both strong characters.  It's a book that starts narrowly and becomes--to be corny here--as big as the sky.

There's something here for teens through senior citizens; death impacts everyone. The Sky is Everywhere is an incredible book, and I get chills looking back on it. It's a love story, a family drama, and a great read. I'm slightly upset that it didn't occur to me to read it sooner.

Lastly, here's the delightful UK book trailer for The Sky is Everywhere. The U.S. one is okay, but this one is too gorgeous to beat: