Too Sunny, but It is the Sun!

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
New York, N.Y. : Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group, 2014
371 p. ; 24 cm.

This is a book that won me over.  Thirty or forty pages in, I was thinking, "It's just too overwrought; the writing is trying too hard." However, by the time I finished it, I was lost in it, and - honestly - kind of sad to be done with it.  Nelson achieves something that is very hard to do: the writing style captures the inner and emotional life of the narrator's point of view - and does this with two alternating narrators. Additionally, her novel manages to be interesting, thoughtful, emotional, and at times, truly profound.

I told a friend that I had really enjoyed I'll Give You the Sun, and they said, "What's it about?" I ended up saying things like,  "It's about a family falling apart.  It's about the passion for art.  It's about the secrets people keep.  It's about making art.  It's about falling in love.  It's about coming of age.  It's about death." So you get the idea.  There's a lot to like about this book.

I recommend checking out Jandy Nelson's web page, where you can see all the crazy praise that her book has received, and - what I loved best - take a look at the "Gallery" to see some of the art and hard work that inspires this novel.

This is definitely a book I'll be pointing students to. And yes, that is a hanging preposition!

    

Floats Like a Butterfly

Bed-stuy Setting of When I was the Greatest

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, [2014]
231 p. ; 22 cm.  

This is one of those books that really exceeds expectations!  I read it because I saw that it had won the John Steptoe - New Talent / Coretta Scott King Award for 2015 and had received numerous positive reviews (e.g. Publishers Weekly and Kirkus), and I wanted to see for myself if it was a book I could recommend.  Also, I'm always on the lookout for diverse authors - our school is a very diverse school - and Jason Reynolds, a young African-American writer living in Brooklyn, interested me.

Would I recommend this book?  The answer is a definite Yes!  I loved this book.  One of the reviewers on Goodreads writes, "Jason Reynolds just slays the voice in this book.  Slays it," and I have to agree.  His voice reminded me a lot of Christopher Paul Curtis, the wonderful author of Bud not Buddy. But, where Bud not Buddy is aimed at middle school readers, Reynolds book hits right at the high school age reader.

What I loved about Reynolds book is that it deals with the rough life of the urban working poor and unemployed - and does so with humor, a light touch and a lot of heart.  There is action in this book, a bit of sex (or almost sex), physical violence, lawbreaking, and cussing, but the heart of the book is about loyalty, friendship, acceptance, and - dare one say it? - love.

It's funny to me that the cover, seen here,

was actually controversial!  I was disappointed with the cover, but not for it being too provocative.  On the contrary, I think it's a weak cover that doesn't grab the attention of a high school reader.  A stunning portrait of a kid in a fight, or shadows on a Brooklyn street, or hustlers on a street corner would have been far more compelling.  Honestly, when I first saw the book, I thought "Oh, cool it's a new LGBT book!" For the record, it's not.

Cover aside, I will definitely recommend this book to any student looking for an all-around good read or a fresh take on urban life, drama, and growing up.