The Sky Is Everywhere

The Sky Is Everywhere provides a thoughtful, emotional, authentic, and revealing portrayal of grief. It shows how grief can drive people together who were never really that close; how relationships can form as a crutch of sorts, allowing those involved to soak up each others grief as if it were their own, to provide comfort and strength, and to help each other feel less lost and to feel whole, if only for a little while. It also emphasizes that there is no “right” way to express grief or cope with loss, as Lennie’s response involving music, writing, and juggling relationships with two boys certainly shows.

While this is primarily a book about grief, relationships, both familial and romantic, play a very important role. Lennie’s eccentric grandmother who believes that Lennie’s life force is tied to a plant; her Uncle Big who is known around town as a womanizer; her mother, who had the “restless gene” and left, resulting in an unconventional upbringing; Toby, Bailey’s fiance, who understands her grief more than anyone; Joe, the new boy in town, who shows Lennie that it’s possible to find love after loss – all of these relationships help Lennie to find herself and come to terms with the loss of her sister.

Jandy Nelson’s writing is incredibly beautiful and evocative. Poems and notes that Lennie has written on whatever she can find at the time of inspiration (coffee cups, trees, candy wrappers) are interspersed within the narrative. These are filled with conversations between her sister and herself, memories of the two of them, dreams, and questions, which give us an honest glimpse into the depth of her grief and make her feelings seem even more real.

I’m so glad that I had the experience of reading The Sky Is Everywhere, and I know that it will stay with me for a very long time.

The sky is everywhere was a stunning, heart breaking book from the fabulous Jandy Nelson. Lennon "Lennie" is going through a period of heartbreak when her sister Bailey suddenly does from a heart attack. She expresses her emotions in poems that she leaves everywhere and buries or where she inscribes them on trees. Nelson accurately shows how someone might act in this situation. Lennie feels like no one else feels her pain, but then she comes to realize that her uncle and grandmother both feel the same way. She is also caught in a love triangle between Baileys boyfriend and a new boy from school.... Which turns out to be messy, but still beautiful. I loved it. It's one of my favorite books of all time.

This is a moving book about losing a loved one. I was constantly crying, and I then I was laughing just as soon. Lennie is just tying to grief the death of her sister, but she ends up learning a lot about life and love along the way. Joe is such a great character, and I LOVED Lennies family! This book was captivating and so lyrically written, I couldn't stop.

A moving story. Deals with death and growing up. It was a page turner.