I'll Give You The Sunbooks

• Act tough and you are tough, as Dad has said and said and said—like I'm some kind of broken umbrella. 'Yeah, I've heard of him,' Fry says out of the big bulgy mouth that clumps with the rest of his big bulgy features under the world's most massive forehead, making it very easy to.
• I'll Give You the Sun Jandy Nelson. Dial, $17.99 (384) ISBN 978-0-8037-3496-8. More By and About This Author. When They Got the Call: PW Speaks with 2015's Newly Minted Newbery.
• ― Jandy Nelson, quote from I'll Give You the Sun 'Meeting your soul mate is like walking into a house you've been in before - you will recognize the furniture, the pictures on the wall, the books on the shelves, the contents of drawers: You could find your way around in the dark if you had to.'.

I'll Give You the Sun is a young adult novel by author Jandy Nelson. Published in September 2014, it is Nelson's second novel. Nelson won several awards for this novel, including the 2015 Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.^[1] In June 2015, Warner Bros.optioned the movie rights and Natalie Krinsky signed on to write the script. Denise Di Novi and Alison Greenspan were said to be producing the movie.^[2]

As Flannery O'Connor once wrote, 'When you can state the theme of the story, when you can separate it from the story itself, then you can be sure the story is not a very good one A story is a way to say something that can't be said any other way.' These stories meet that requirement. They do have a consistency.

The novel follows a set of twins, Jude and Noah. Although they were incredibly close at thirteen, three years later they are hardly speaking to each other. The early years are narrated by Noah as he struggles with an enormous secret that affects his past, present, and future. The later years are narrated by Jude as her life changes when she meets an arrogant and broken, yet beautiful boy. Jude also encounters a tormented, mysterious artist—an even more unpredictable force that changes her life, and Noah's, forever.^[3]

Plot[edit]

Noah and Jude Sweetwine are twins. As they enter their teen years, they grow apart. This is partly due to their sibling rivalry, as they compete for the attention of their mother, Dianna; and partly due to their struggle to be able to understand their separate identities. Furthermore, both twins want to apply to the same highly competitive art school. On one hand, Noah clearly revels in his artistic talent, while hiding the fact that he is crushing on a neighborhood boy named Brian. On the other hand, Jude is reserved about her art, but she openly welcomes male attention.

The early years are written from Noah's point of view. By spying on her, Noah is aware of Jude's artistic abilities. However, he does whatever he can to keep their mother from discovering Jude's gift. One day, Dianna walks in on Noah and Brian, who freaks out because he is still in the closet and ends their relationship. Then Noah discovers his mother having an affair with a local sculptor, Guillermo Garcia. Noah runs away and leaves a drawing of the scene with Guillermo on Dianna's bed. Dianna talks with Noah and says that she is in love with Guillermo and wants to divorce Noah's father. The two fight and Dianna drives away to propose to Guillermo. On the way, she is killed in an automobile accident. Noah seeks Guillermo out to yell at him and lies by saying that his parents were planning to stay together. Furthermore, Noah is under the impression that his application to art school was rejected. He is lost, confused and still obsessed with Brian.

The later years are written from Jude's point of view. Evidently, instead of ensuring both of their applications to art school were mailed out, Jude threw away Noah's application and only sent her own. Jude is not coping well with her mother's death. She is miserable in school and is nearly failing out. She is convinced that her mother's ghost is destroying all her art. Therefore, she finds Guillermo Garcia, whom she convinces to take her on as an apprentice. Jude wants to make stone sculptures that, she believes, her mother will be unable to demolish. Meanwhile, Jude finds herself hopelessly attracted to Oscar, a British boy whom Guillermo views as a son. Oscar flirts with Jude but she does not allow it to go far because she has sworn off boys. The day Dianna died, Jude was having sex for the first time. The experience was awful and Jude feels responsible for her mother's death.

Working on her stone sculpture helps Jude process her problems. She knows that she needs to tell Noah about what she did with his art school application. Meanwhile, Noah has discovered that Guillermo is Jude's mentor. He is concerned that Jude will learn that Noah was responsible for their mother's accident. Hopelessly, Noah gets drunk during a drinking game and nearly commits suicide by jumping off a cliff. However, Jude and Oscar stop him. The twins talk and reveal all their secrets to each other. Noah reveals Dianna's affair with Guillermo and Jude tells him about the sabotaged art application. Guillermo is relieved Dianna still loved him when she died and wants to continue to mentor Jude. Oscar and Jude admit to their feelings for each other. Noah is finally accepted into art school, and he gets back together with Brian who is now openly gay. With all their misunderstandings cleared up, the twins are ready to reconnect and rebuild their relationship.^[3]

Background[edit]

When asked where she got the idea for I'll Give You the Sun, Nelson responds, 'These characters – Jude and Noah – pretty much crash-landed in my brain, almost fully formed. They brought with them this tragedy and their 'first love' stories [...] The challenge became how to tell their really complicated story, because there is a lot going on between and among all these characters.' Nelson talks about the different writing process she used with this novel, saying, 'The Sky Is Everywhere I wrote like a normal person, but for this book I wrote the entire thing in a pitch-black room with earplugs in. The only available light was the light coming from the computer screen [...] There was something about being in that dark room like a lunatic, not letting my world in at all, that allowed me to stay in their story.'^[4]

Reception[edit]

I'll Give You the Sun received strongly positive reviews. The New York Times praised the novel by calling it '[...] breathtaking. You get the sense her characters are bursting through the words, breaking free of normal metaphors and constructions, jubilantly trying to rise up from the prison of language.'^[5]The Guardian said that I'll Give You the Sun is '[...] about many things: grief, sexuality, creativity, bravery, identity, guilt. But mostly it's about love [...] This book will make you realize how beautiful words can be.'^[6]

Awards[edit]

• Winner of the 2015 Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature^[1]
• A 2015 Stonewall Honor Book^[7]
• Winner of Bank Street's 2015 Josette Frank Award
• YALSA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults^[8]
• Rainbow List Top Ten 2015^[9]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'Young Adult Library Services Association'.
2. ^'Hollywood Reporter'.
3. ^ ^abNelson, Jandy (2014). I'll Give You the Sun. New York: Speak.
4. ^Corbett, Sue. 'Q&A with Jandy Nelson'. Publisher's Weekly.
5. ^Lauren, Oliver. 'I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson'. New York Times.
6. ^Viner, Katharine. 'I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson - review'. The Guardian.
7. ^'American Library Association'.
8. ^'Young Adult Library Services Association'. Archived from the original on 2015-02-07.
9. ^'Rainbow Book List'.

I'll Give You The Sun Theme

When twin brothers Noah and Jude Sweetwine were kids, they were close friends, but these days, the trials of adolescence are pushing them apart. Their competition and their independent quests for identity are worsened by their literal competition as students in a high school for the arts. Noah's artistic talent speaks for itself, but he is paralyzed by his strange attraction to a neighborhood boy. Jude, while the second best, enjoys her flirtatious personality openly. They also compete for their mother Dianna's esteem and affection.

Noah spies on his twin sister, so he knows that she keeps her best work to herself. Noah is discovered by his mother during his 'private time' with his neighborhood friend, but then, Noah discovers his mother's own unsavory secret: she's having an affair on their father with a local artist, Guillermo Garcia. He leaves his mother a sketch of what he saw, prompting a volatile fight between them during which Noah's mother reveals her intent to leave their father and be with Guillermo. She leaves to ask him to marry her.

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'Young Adult Library Services Association'.
2. ^'Hollywood Reporter'.
3. ^ ^abNelson, Jandy (2014). I'll Give You the Sun. New York: Speak.
4. ^Corbett, Sue. 'Q&A with Jandy Nelson'. Publisher's Weekly.
5. ^Lauren, Oliver. 'I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson'. New York Times.
6. ^Viner, Katharine. 'I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson - review'. The Guardian.
7. ^'American Library Association'.
8. ^'Young Adult Library Services Association'. Archived from the original on 2015-02-07.
9. ^'Rainbow Book List'.

I'll Give You The Sun Theme

When twin brothers Noah and Jude Sweetwine were kids, they were close friends, but these days, the trials of adolescence are pushing them apart. Their competition and their independent quests for identity are worsened by their literal competition as students in a high school for the arts. Noah's artistic talent speaks for itself, but he is paralyzed by his strange attraction to a neighborhood boy. Jude, while the second best, enjoys her flirtatious personality openly. They also compete for their mother Dianna's esteem and affection.

Noah spies on his twin sister, so he knows that she keeps her best work to herself. Noah is discovered by his mother during his 'private time' with his neighborhood friend, but then, Noah discovers his mother's own unsavory secret: she's having an affair on their father with a local artist, Guillermo Garcia. He leaves his mother a sketch of what he saw, prompting a volatile fight between them during which Noah's mother reveals her intent to leave their father and be with Guillermo. She leaves to ask him to marry her.

On her way to her lover's house, Dianna dies in a car accident. Noah finds Guillermo and tells him that his mother will stay. His art school application seems to have been rejected, and all these terrible encounters remind him of his unbearable affinity for Brian, who seems a lost cause.

In part two, the narrative switches to the other twin's point of view. Just as Noah sabotaged his sister for the attention of their mother, Jude has sabotaged Noah. She threw his application away; it was never rejected because no one ever saw it. Jude alone has gone to art school, but she is failing her classes. She feels literally haunted by her mother. Guillermo Garcia takes Jude on as a student, but Jude's interests are fixed on the British boy Oscar. Jude reveals that she never lets things go too far with boys because when her mom died, she was losing her virginity.

I'll Give You The Sun Books List

Noah is worried by Jude's apprenticeship, because he wonders whether Guillermo will tell her Noah was responsible for their mother's death. Noah plays a drinking game and over-drinks, nearly committing suicide in a drunken panic. Jude and Oscar pull him from the cliff's edge and Jude confesses her sabotage of his application. Noah tells Guillermo the truth about his mom, and Guillermo finally gets closure that Dianna loved him until her death. Jude and Oscar become a couple. On top of it all, Noah learns that Brian is now openly gay, and the two couples set off for a life as a family once more.