The Sky Is Everywhere

The Sky Is Everywhere
By Jandy Nelson
Dial Books, 2010. 275 pgs. Young Adult

Lennie's older sister has died, leaving Lennie feeling completely off--except, instead of feeling completely empty, she seems to feel things more intensely than she ever did before. On the one hand, she is horribly sad about her sister, a sadness shared by her sister's boyfriend Toby--a sadness that somehow attracts them to each other. On the other hand, new boy Joe Fontaine starts hanging around, and with him, Lennie feels amazingly happy. Torn between the boys, and her emotions, Lennie has to figure out how to deal with everything and how to adjust to life without her beloved sister.

This is a fantastic book about love and loss. Lennie is such a real character, so perfectly portrayed, and the supporting characters are all charming and the type of people you'd want to know in real life. The love triangle as well as Lennie's need to figure out what love is and what it means to lose her sister and who she is going to be without her are engrossing just for their premise and development, but they are enhanced by beautiful writing, including poems and thoughts that Lennie writes on scraps of paper and scatters around. This is one of those books that sticks with you after you read it.

AE