I bought I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson back in December, when I had Barnes and Noble gift card money. I only bought it because the other book on my to-buy list that day wasn't available, but I recognized I'll Give You the Sun from my 331-book-long list, and bought it, because, well, it was there.
And look where that decision has brought me.
There are those books that you'll bring to the beach and sit in a hammock and read for hours, until it feels like your eyes are about to fall out. There are those books that you'll reluctantly set on your bedside table so that as soon as your mother leaves the room (you know, to check to make sure you're actually going to go to sleep this time), you can huddle next to the night light and read until your eyes slowly shut. There are those books that you'll open wherever you are, whether in the middle of a lecture, or in the hallway or when you're eating lunch, just so you can read about what happens next because you absolutely need to know! or you'll die of anxiety by just looking at the gorgeous cover for the rest of the day.
That is Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You the Sun. It makes you feel happy and heartbroken and frightened and blessed and excited and crushed and strong.
So, what's all this ranting about? Here's what this book is about. The story starts with this rather epic chase scene in Los Angeles, California, where one of the main characters, Noah Sweetwine, age 13, is running away from high school bullies over spring break. He gets pushed around, the bullies annihilate his sketch book, but then they let him go. During that opening scene, we learn that Noah is a) an artist, b) gay and c) half of a twin. His twin sister, Jude Sweetwine, is hung up over their grandmother's death, and believes that her grandmother's ghost will come back to her in times of need. In addition, readers learn that Jude is an artist as well. The first chapter, narrated entirely by Noah, is the initial meeting of NoahandJude, two twins stuck together like glue and stay together like peanut butter and jelly. But then the twins become Noah and Jude. The inseparable, separated. Readers are abruptly introduced to what life is like 3 years later, in the next chapter, narrated by 16-year-old Jude during her winter break. Within the first page of this "new life" that Jude talks about, it seems that Jude got into the art school Noah was dying to get into. The catch about this chapter is, because they're so far apart, Jude doesn't know a lot about Noah anymore, so we don't know much either, which is different than the first chapter, where Noah seems to know exactly how Jude prepared her pancakes that morning. Jude isn't focused on her brother, however, because she's searching for a mentor who'll teach her how to make the statue of her dreams. She ends up meeting the British assistant to her mentor, but why does he look so familiar . . .? Through all of this, one crucial detail is missing: what exactly happened that made the twins fall apart?
As the chapters go on, alternating between 13-year-old Noah and 16-year-old Jude, readers start to, piece by piece, put together the story. Noah's problems center around the new boy next door, and how to keep up with his outgoing sister and their crowd while keeping the new neighbor to himself. Jude's main concerns center around making her stone statue, and finding out about this British assistant. The twins aren't only struggling to find themselves, but are struggling to find each other. Readers' main focus is to try to figure out what happened in Noah and Jude's lives that made them fall apart.After reading this book, I couldn't decide on one theme. If you see the white cover of the book, the quote on the front reminds me of fate, but family is such a huge aspect of the book that I couldn't just ignore it. So, I'd say, that I'll Give You the Sun puts fate and family center stage. Nelson twines them expertly together to make this incredible YA fiction novel that's unforgettable.
Okay, so this has been a pretty lengthy review of a book. I agree, maybe I could cut down this review down into a simple haiku, but I can't, because there was so much I wanted to say about this book.
This book is the sun, stars, ocean, trees, moon, flowers, sky, mountains, thunder, lightning, everything.
This story creates worlds inside your head in vibrant colors. This story builds hope up in your mind and then dashes it a few pages later, only to rebuild it again. This story gives us "peace in our time" before it goes to war with itself.
Go read Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You the Sun, because you won't know the full power of literature until this book is securely in your hands.
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