53/50: The Sky is Everywhere

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. It was so refreshing and different. It made band geeks cool again!

Lennie is going through the stages of grief after her sister, Bailey, suddenly dies. She's not sure how to live without her and starts to push people away. She's torn between Toby, her sister's boyfriend, and Joe, the new French musician hot guy in school. Toby makes he acknowledge her grief and they deal with the pain together. Joe makes her feel alive and like a new person. Like she can survive without Bailey.

Lennie intrigued me. She wasn't used to living outside of someone's shadow and being 'the sister'. She'd been catapulted into the spotlight and not sure if that's where she wants to be. I loved reading about her mistakes and about the things she learned. She learned she can have her own dreams, she can be her own person. She learned she doesn't have to grieve the same way as everyone else. Gram painted, Big smoked pot, Toby tried to replace Bailey with Lennie. On the outside of all this is Joe. He never knew Bailey, only knows Lennie without her. He has this way of making Lennie feel like she is special.

I had this fear reading this book that something terrible would happen to Lennie, and yes something does, but on a much smaller scale than what I was thinking. I loved this book for it's happy ending. Everyone learning from each other and figuring it out. It was such a feel good book with so much raw emotion that it was hard to put down.

Jandy Nelson did a great job on her debut novel. I hope to see more from her in the future.

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