The Sky Is Everywhere in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Apr 25, 2015 Lisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-lit, favorites, contemporary

This book slays me while being one of the most memorable books that I have ever read. It stands as the only book to make me cry.
There were two sisters and one of them died too young. When that part of the plot is revealed in the first page I knew I was in for a tear jerker. The one left behind deals with her grief by writing poems/memories/thoughts on scraps of paper,walls,trees basically leaving them all over her town. There are two boys (yes a triangle, but not a love triangle in the way many ...more

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Apr 28, 2011 Brandi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, teen, favorites, random-reads-column, librandian-blog, 2011

The Sky is Everywhere
By Jandy Nelson

After her mother abandoned Lennie Walker and her sister Bailey when Lennie was 1 year old, the two girls moved in with Gram and their Uncle Big. Lennie and Bailey had an understanding. Neither one of them would ever abandon the other. Bailey broke that rule when she died of a sudden heart complication a few months back. Now Lennie can’t do anything without feeling the emptiness caused by her missing sister. As a result, Lennie tries to fill the vacant spot in The Sky is Everywhere
By Jandy Nelson

After her mother abandoned Lennie Walker and her sister Bailey when Lennie was 1 year old, the two girls moved in with Gram and their Uncle Big. Lennie and Bailey had an understanding. Neither one of them would ever abandon the other. Bailey broke that rule when she died of a sudden heart complication a few months back. Now Lennie can’t do anything without feeling the emptiness caused by her missing sister. As a result, Lennie tries to fill the vacant spot in her existence any way she can.

At first, Lennie tries the old stand-bys; reading Wuthering Heights for nearly the fifteenth time and playing her clarinet. Gram and Uncle Big try to help, but each are trying to deal with the grief in their own ways. Gram buries herself in her award-winning garden while Uncle Big conducts his hair-brained experiments and sits up in trees for hours. Lennie finally finds a ray of hope amongst all the darkness surrounding her currently. Musical prodigy Joe Fontaine has moved into their small town from France and he has his eyes solely on Lennie. Joe tries to redirect the Walker household’s thoughts away from Bailey through his music. Lennie’s feelings for Joe are strong, but there is one thing holding her back; Bailey’s boyfriend Toby.

Toby doesn’t seem to be dealing with Bailey’s death any better than the rest of the Walker family, but his grief continues to overcome the family in a way that stifles any sense of progression. Worst of all, Toby may be channeling his love of Bailey to Lennie. Will Lennie choose the comfortable, yet inappropriate love or the new, full of life love? Will Lennie even get a chance to choose before it’s too late?

I am not a huge fan of romance novels, but Nelson’s story blew me away. It’s funny. It’s sad. It covers the entire spectrum of emotions. The feelings and emotions which are so raw and real that it feels more like you are listening to a friend tell a story rather than reading the black and white words. Nelson includes little messages written by Lennie on any surface available at the beginning of the chapters which helps the reader connect even more with our forlorn main character. The Sky is Everywhere is a title to remember.
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Dec 28, 2023 Jody rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Sky is Everywhere is a compelling, honest, and believable young adult novel about a girl trying to cope in the face of crushing grief. Lennie is an extremely sympathetic character who quickly wins over the reader. The writing is unflinchingly honest and the book itself is a winner for sure.

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