Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker (named
after John Lennon), bookworm and band
geek, plays second clarinet and spends her
time tucked safely and happily in the shadow
of her fiery sister Bailey. But when Bailey
dies suddenly, Lennie is catapulted to center
stage of her own life—and, despite her
nonexistent history with boys, finds herself
struggling to balance two. Toby was
Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s
own. Joe is the new boy in town, a
transplant from Paris whose nearly magical
grin is matched only by his musical talent.
For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon;
one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the
other comforts her in it. But just like their
celestial counterparts, they can’t collide
without the whole wide world exploding.
I can safely say The Sky is Everywhere
is one of my favorite books ever. I have never
finished a book and felt this emotional before,
last night when I turned the last page I felt like
crying, laughing, writing and running in a field
to nowhere in particular, and all at the same
time. It’s now been almost 12 hours and I can’t
stop thinking about this book!
I wasn’t really looking for a serious book I just
chose this one because it was sitting on the
shelf in the YA room looking a bit lonely. From
start to finish, my heart broke and got glued
back together more than once and I feel like
the cast of characters are now permanently
stuck to my life. The things from this book that
really stuck with me are how close Lennie and
her sister Bailey were, Joe’s eyelashes (bat,
bat, bat), Toby’s sad eyes and Gram’s
garden.
Beautifully written, The Sky is Everywhere
is about loss, grief, pain, healing, hoping and
love. The sudden death of Bailey a vibrant
nineteen-year-old is at the center of the story,
and her family’s struggle to cope is
heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same
time. Bailey and Lennie have been raised by
their grandmother and uncle, as their mother
abandoned them years before. The girls talk
about their mother as if she is on a journey
around the world and she’ll be back someday
to stay. The love stories in this book are
many and multi-layered. They include the
love between sisters, the mother-like love
between grandmother and granddaughter,
and breathtaking head-over-heels first love.
Music and poetry bring together the
instruments of healing for Lennie and her
family in this wonderful story about loss, love
and forgiveness.
Happy Reading To You!!!
Mrs. Librarian Lady
