Book Review: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

The Sky is Everywhere
by Jandy Nelson
Speak 
January 2010
277 pages
Source: Purchased

Synopsis
Lennie plays second clarinet in the school orchestra and has always happily been second fiddle to her charismatic older sister, Bailey. Then Bailey dies suddenly, and Lennie is left at sea without her anchor. Overcome by emotion, Lennie soon finds herself torn between two boys: Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, and Joe, the charming and musically gifted new boy in town. While Toby can't see her without seeing Bailey and Joe sees her only for herself, each offers Lennie something she desperately needs. But ultimately, it's up to Lennie to find her own way toward what she really needs-without Bailey. A remarkable debut novel perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block. (Taken from Goodreads.)



Opening Line

Gram is worried about me.

My Take On It

Where do I even begin? This book has wormed its way into my heart, just like Joe wormed his way into the heart of Lennie and her family, and I think it is going to be a very long time before I am able to "move on." And I think it's going to be a very long time before I read a book that holds a candle to The Sky is Everywhere.  It's funny because I used to think I didn't "do" grief books. But then I looked at some of the books I read and reviewed recently and loved, like Saving June and The Fault in Our Stars, or If I Stay, and I have come to the conclusion that I actually DO do grief books. But you know, saying that any of those books, as well as The Sky is Everywhere, is strictly a book about grief is doing each a serious injustice. All of those books, and especially The Sky is Everywhere, are about so much more. 

From page one of The Sky is Everywhere I was hooked. From the beginning I knew that the story this young woman Lennie was about to tell was going to be something special. This book, it's writing, it's tone, it's mood, it's humor, it's authenticity, it's soul, is unlike anything I have ever read. Did I have some favorite parts, passages, excerpts or quotes?

$20 to the first person who can guess the correct number of stickies! (Just kidding:)

Uh, yeah.

So, clearly I'm a fan of the writing. It's beautiful and lyrical but it's also accessible and real. Okay, I'm rambling. Maybe we should talk characters. Let's start with our narrator.

Lennie- What I love about Lennie is that even though she has experienced a life altering loss, the death of her sister and best friend Bailey, and even though she is dealing with a MOUNTAIN of survivor's guilt, she still comes across as a regular 17 year old girl. Lennie's not prefect. She's a girl who makes her share of mistakes, the kind that make you go "Ooohh...Lennie, what are you thinking?" She's such a good person, her misguided decisions made me cheer her on even more. So The Sky is Everywhere is as much a coming of age story as it is a book chronicling the loss of a loved one. And thank goodness! Because to say that this loss has devastated Lennie and her entire family, is an understatement. 

My sister will die over and over again for the rest of my life. Grief is forever. It doesn't go away; it becomes part of you, step for step, breath for breath.

Were it not for the elements of a coming of age story, this book would be one dark, downward spiral. But it isn't! Instead it's the perfect combination of grief and hope. It's the loss of one part of life balanced with self discovery and first love.

Gram- Lennie's grandmother comprises 1/3 of Lennie's family unit, and like all of the other characters in this book, her persona jumps off the page. I love everything about Gram. I love that she's not a small, fragile, little old granny but that she is just as tall in statue as she is large in life. I love that she's an artist, painting her sad, willowy 'green ladies' and I love that she is the local garden guru, growing roses that are so intoxicating they can literally cause people to fall in love when inhaled. Mostly I love how much Gram loves Lennie, and how she was more mother than grandmother to both her and Bailey.

Uncle Big- Like Gram, Lennie's Uncle Big  is a towering presence, and he's most definitely a lover and not a fighter. I love that Big is just one big ole hippy, happiest in the old growth redwoods that surround their home of Clover, California. Like Gram, and really the entire Walker family, Big is eccentric and endearing all at the same time. 

Sarah- Lennie's BF is loud, loving, loyal and HILARIOUS. Packed full of feminist punch, Sarah is a perfect friend to Lennie, calling her out when she makes a major mess of things but standing by her and doing everything she can to help her make it right in the end. Sarah is just your typical

 "sun-kissed beach girl who goes gothgrungepunkhippierockeremocoremetalfreak-fashionistabraingeekboycrazyhiphoprastagirl"

And she's also holy horses unfreakinbelivable (you'll  have to read the book to figure out what all that means.)  I want to just give her a tight squeeze!

Toby- Bailey's boyfriend Toby is one of the most complex characters in the story. On the one hand you want so badly to take away all of his pain and hurt and loss that he feels after losing the love of his life. And on the other you want to shake him silly at some of his actions following her death.  A lot of readers have problems with Toby's character, and with his relationship with Lennie, but I'm not one of them. I completely sympathized and got it, even though I cringed while reading it. 

Joe- Oh my gosh. This character (*Loud Sigh*). There are many, many reasons why I love The Sky is Everywhere. The coming of age story contained within; the element of magical realism;  the strong yet eccentric family unit; the humor; the perfect setting, the undeniably gorgeous writing;  and the elements of poetry and music inserted. But really, as shallow as it may be, I don't think this book would mean half so much to me were it not for the relationship between Lennie and Joe. In a recent Top Ten Tuesday, Joe earned the top spot in my list of fave Jail Bait Book Boyfriends and the reasons are many. It's his beauty, both external and internal;  it's his genius musical abilities; and it's the fact that he can make everyone fall in love with him when he flashes his megawatt smile and bats his extraordinarily long eyelashes (Bat. Bat. Bat.). But I think what makes Joe so perfect to ME is that the boy wears his heart on his sleeve. He is so open, so honest with his feelings. He just puts it all out there for Lennie and everyone to see and even though this makes him vulnerable, and potentially prone to heartache, there is something so lovely about a character like this. Joe is youth and hope, and the 'joy of life' personified. When a person like that walks into the lives of Lennie and her broken family, it's impossible for them not to fall under his spell and begin to feel hopeful as well. 

Bailey- Even though Lennie's sister Bailey has been dead for several weeks as the story begins, we still get a hauntingly beautiful picture of who Bailey was and what she meant to her family and friends through the memories, dreams, and poetry of her sister. This inclusion added a heartbreaking yet amazing layer to the story. 

Someone from Bailey's drama class 
yelled bravo at the end of the service
and everyone jumped to their feet
and started clapping
I remember thinking the roof would blow
from the thunder in our hands
that grief was a room filled
with hungry desperate light
We clapped our hands for nineteen years
of a world with Bailey in it
did not stop clapping
when the sun set, moon rose
when all the people streamed into our house 
with food and frantic sorrow
did not stop clapping
until dawn
when we closed the door
on Toby
who had to make his sad way home
I know we must have moved from that spot
must have washed and and slept and ate
but in my mind, Gram, Uncle Big and I
stayed like that for weeks
just staring at the closed door
with nothing between our hands
but air

In addition to these incredible characters, Nelson has created a gorgeous backdrop set amid the old growth redwood forests: Clover, a fictional town in Northern California. 

I look out at the gang of oaks across the road, at the Spanish moss hanging over their stooped shoulders like decrepit shawls, the gray, gnarled lot of them like a band of wise old men pondering a verdict.

And the setting is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Jandy Nelson's musical writing in The Sky is Everywhere.

Examples abound:

     "Good." He brushes his thumb on my cheek , and again his tenderness startles me. 
     "Because I'm going crazy, Lennie." Bat. Bat. Bat. And just like that, I'm going crazy too because I think Joe Fontaine is about to kiss me. Finally.    
     Forget the convent.   
    Let's get this out of the way: My previously nonexistent floozy-factor is blowing right off the charts.    
   "I didn't know you knew my name," I say.   
   "So much you don't know about me, Lennie." He smiles and takes his index finger and presses it to my lips, leaves it there until my heart lands on Jupiter: three seconds, then removes it, turns around, and heads back into the living room. Whoa-- well, that was either the dorkiest or sexiest moment of my life, and I'm voting for sexy on account of my standing here dumbstruck and giddy, wondering if he did kiss me after all."

(If you're like me you were reading that and thinking it was dorky, all the way up until Lennie calls it. Much of the writing is like this. Seemingly bordering on the cheesy or melodramatic only to have a sharp dose of humor inserted to keep it authentic. I LOVE this about The Sky is Everywhere.)

Here's another:

There once was a girl who found herself dead. 
She peered over the ledge of heaven
and saw back on earth
her sister missed her too much,
was way too sad,
so she crossed some paths
that would not have crossed,
took some moments in her hand
shook them up
and spilled them like dice
over the living world.
It worked.
The boy with the guitar collided
with her sister.
"There you go, Len," she whispered. "The rest is up to you."

You know what I love most about that poem? That it plays around with the notion of destiny. And there are more instances of this throughout the book (some of the best coming at the end:) But even with the concept of destiny and fate present, there's also a definite message of one being the author of one's own story. You might not think that these two contradictory ideas could tie together and work, but somehow they do. I'm being vague, I know, but I wanted to at least mention it because I thought it was brilliant.

There's even more packed into The Sky is Everywhere, more about Lennie's family, her mom in particular, but I think I've talked enough. I'll end by saying this: this book is perfection. I think that if even one of the aspects I have mentioned above were missing,  one of the characters or passages of the prose altered in the slightest way,  this book might not be as powerful as it is. Without all of these parts together the book would not be whole.  When I think about it, I have read plenty of great books that have amazing, well developed characters. And I have read books with incredible settings. I have read books with drop dead gorgeous writing. And I have read books that have fascinating story lines. But it is a rare, rare thing to find a book that perfectly captures all of these elements. The Sky is Everywhere is one of these rare books. I wish I had read it sooner. I can't speak highly enough about it. If you are one of the few who haven't yet read it, remedy that. Soon. 

5/5 Stars 

Cover Thoughts

The picture above is not what my book looks like. I have the paperback version:

And as pretty as that cover is, it's not the Lennie I see in my head. Plus I love the heart shaped rose petal on the original cover, because of the role Gram's roses play in the book:)

This book was Jandy Nelson's DEBUT. That blows my mind. Find out what she is up to next on her website HERE.

Read more reviews of The Sky is Everywhere

Ashley Loves Books
Reading Lark
Good Books and Good Wine
Alison Can Read
Angieville
Persnickety Snark

And a really cool post on the wonder that is Joe Fontaine can be found over at Swoontini. Check it out:)