I’ll Give You the Sun

December 10, 2019

Details

Length: 371
Story Build: Quick
Character development: Strong 
Age Recommendation: 9th grade and up  
Reasoning: sexual references, drinking, family dysfunction, language 

Summary and Review

I’m going to be honest; when I first started this book, I was hesitant. I felt like it was wordy and a little “out there.” I had trouble following the narration until, maybe a few pages in, I got sucked in.

I love that moment when you are thinking about the world of the text and anticipating diving into it. When I get sucked into a novel, I actively day dream about the characters and their world. This happened to me with I’ll Give You the Sun. 

All of a sudden, that description at the beginning that I thought was wordy or too “out there” was magical and transformative. I realized that the style of the author’s sentences and words created this place that I was craving to go. Her word choice and particular moments of describing relationships and characters made me feel completely enveloped in the story. It flowed like poetry, and her words painted beauty across the page. 

Maybe that’s because it’s the story of two artists, a set of twins, Noah and Jude. 

The story is about their time at the ages of 13 and 16. What is interesting is that the time they are 13 is told through the perspective of Noah while Jude is responsible for relaying what is occurring when they are 16. 

The twins are both talented, in their own ways, at art, and their mother wants to encourage this in both of them. 

When 13, Jude is difficult and testing the boundaries of her mother and father; she wants closeness with Noah but at the same time pushes him away. Noah is exploring his identity and is awkward and spends most of his time creating art in his head and on paper. However, this is completely altered when they are 16, with Noah being more assimilated into the culture of school and Jude more of the outcast. They also barely have a relationship, and art is hard for both of them.  

So what happened in those three years for the twins and for their family? Why is Noah no longer really creating art, and why is Jude struggling to make something meaningful? 

What unfolds is a beautiful story (did I get that point across at the beginning?!) about siblings, love, art, and forgiveness. It’s told in such a way that pieces are revealed only when appropriate, and you will want to cry and laugh and cry, again, because of the brilliance of the phrasing and wording of Jandy Nelson. 

I don’t want to share anymore than this because to add anything else would ruin the experience of this novel.

Celebrations

It was basically like reading a painting if that makes sense… the words were paint on the canvas, describing the world and the characters in a way that created a visual that only Nelson could achieve. Trust me.

Hesitations

There seemed to be some magical realism at play here, which I can never QUITE tell if it’s actual magic being referenced to or just symbolic of something… but, honestly, it doesn’t matter because I really have no hesitations. It’s just really well done. And weird. And beautiful.