The Sky is Everywhere

Jandy Nelson Press Reviews

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Praise for The Sky is Everywhere:

"Okay, I admit it. I've got a huge crush on this book - it's beautiful, brilliant, passionate, funny, sexy and deep. Come to think of it, I might even want to marry this book..." - Sonya Sones.

"WOW. I sobbed my eyes out and then laughed through the tears. I have not fallen in love with a story and its characters like this in a long time. Stunning,  heartbreaking, hilarious. A story that shakes the Earth." - An Na, Printz Award Winner and National Book Award Finalist.

"The Sky is Everywhere is the kind of book you don't just read, you live. From the very first page, I fell deeply in love with its wonderfully kooky characters. In quiet moments I can still hear Lennie's funny, poignant voice whispering in my ear. A remarkable debut. Wish I'd written it !" - Sarah Webb, Irish Independent and author of the Amy Green series.

Review of ‘The Sky is Everywhere’ by Books for Keeps [5 stars]

At first sight I thought this was going to be romantic slush: an American tale of teenager Lennie, whose sister has suddenly and tragically died, and how she and her grandmother and uncle react and come to terms with their grief, getting to know each other in the process. However, there is much more to it than I first anticipated. The family has unresolved complexities; Lennie ‘s relationships with boys and other friends become complicated and we are soon enmeshed in a poignant and absorbing story as she begins to sort out what has happened and where her real feelings lie. Reminiscent of Sharon Creech’s Chasing Redbird or Cynthia Voigt’s Homecoming, there is much to ponder here and the treatment of complex and confused emotions, while not entirely realistic, is compelling, and the story lightly told.

The book is bulky and thick, with the dimensions and feel of a notebook and one of those handy elastics to keep it closed and to keep your place, and the text is sprinkled with pages representing the napkins, sweet wrappers and other scraps of paper on which Lennie has written ‘poems’ (her thoughts, more accurately) which she has left here and there, cast to the wind and which become a vital and touching part of the resolution of the story.