Jude
and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah
draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door,
while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the
talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely
speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic
ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone
else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are
Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize
is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their
way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world. This
radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at
once. (Goodreads)
Reviewed by Jessica Day George, NYT Bestselling Middle Grade and Young Adult Author
I was at BEA, leaving the “speed
dating” event where tables of librarians and booksellers are given ARCs of
upcoming books, and the authors make the rounds and have three minutes to tell
each table about their book. Apparently I was in the same room with Jandy
Nelson at this time, but I didn’t know her name then. Now that I’ve read I’ll Give You The Sun, I’m
kind of afraid to run into her, because I might start hyperventilating and then
cry all over her. So, anyway, as I was
leaving the event I was eyeing some of the books that had been discarded,
picking up a few things for myself. I saw this book, and said to my publicist,
“That’s a fun cover.” The librarian who had just put it down, said, “You
haven’t read this book?” I said, “No, I’ve never heard of it.” She thrust this
into my hands! “You should take this! Take it!” I told her that she should keep
it, and it she said that she already had a copy, and had already read it, and
it was amazing. She was putting this copy back because she wanted to spread the
love. She had such an intense expression I was both intrigued and taken aback.
A couple of months later it comes
to my attention that I’m hearing more and more about this book. That people are
bemoaning that they didn’t fight the crowds at BEA hard enough to get a copy,
and I’m wondering if I should feel guilty because I have this coveted book and
haven’t read it yet. So at last I crack it open to find . . . a dreamy artistic
boy being bullied by two jocks. And I’ll admit it: I thought, Ugh, really? That's what this is about? Another book about bullying? (Yes,
bullying it terrible. But I just wasn't in the mood, okay?) I forged ahead,
though, and by page three I was hooked because of the way the dreamy artistic
boy (Noah) described things. His twin sister Jude's hair like snakes trying to
strangle him. Colors oozing from walls, people’s words changing color and
taking shape depending on if they’re lying or telling the truth . . . his
internal monologue is a series of wild, brilliant paintings.
And then there’s Jude. Jude sees
ghosts, specifically family ghosts. Their grandmother follows her around,
giving her advice on boys and fashion and life. A vengeful ghost destroys
Jude’s art projects and you wonder if they’re both crazy, except the art is
really being destroyed by outside forces, and others can sense it. This is the
finest use of magical realism I’ve ever encountered in a YA novel.
The book is told in alternating
points of view, jumping between Noah at thirteen and Jude at sixteen, until
their two stories finally collide. I read this book in one day because I simply
couldn’t stop. I was not only worried about the characters, but I wanted to
know what had split their two narratives, and if they would ever come back
together. I was so caught up in their lives that I later felt sad that I had
read it so fast, because I wanted to spend more time with Noah and Jude and
ghost grandma and everyone else.
It's just a gorgeous, gorgeous book
and I want to see it showered with all the accolades and awards.
Market: YA contemporary
Language: Though not pervasive,
there are some swear words including the F-word, and insults including
homosexual slurs.
Violence: A boy is roughed up by
bullies, the occasional punch or fistfight
Sensuality: A heterosexual sex
scene (though it is not intended to be titillating and is not graphic),
homosexual kissing.
Adult themes: homosexuality,
adultery, bullying, depression
1 comment:
I LOVED Jandy Nelson's THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, so I'll definitely be reading I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUN. Thanks for this awesome review, Jessica!
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