Summary Of Jandy Nelson's The Sky Is Everywhere

Love and loss is a big concept in Jandy Nelson's novels, I’ll Give You the Sun and The Sky is Everywhere. Throughout these stories, the protagonists experience some traumatic events such as death of loved one and must learn how to cope and power through it. Thankfully, it is not all melancholy and there are a few relationships making it interesting. Jandy Nelson has a unique writing style. Her most prevalent stylistic elements are her use of allusions and figurative language (metaphors and symbolism). Nelson uses these elements to her advantage in order to relate to the audience by using well-known allusions, and to create a deeper meaning and connection with the use of metaphors and symbolism. When Nelson writes she uses famous people

In the book, The Sky is Everywhere one of the most prevalent symbols is the house plant that embodies Lennie. The text says, “Gram has believed for most of my seventeen years that this particular houseplant [...] reflects my emotional, spiritual and physical well-being” (The Sky is Everywhere 1). This is further backed up because at the end of the book when Lennie comes up with a theory; the plant wilting is her old self-dying. Lennie then tosses it off of a cliff to show how she has become the new person. Another symbol of this story is the companion pony that Toby teaches Lennie about. A companion pony is a small horse bred to keep a racehorse company. Lennie goes on to say, “‘I’m a Companion pony, and companion ponies don't solo’” (The Sky is Everywhere 48). Lennie says this when she is talking to her best friend about being her own person and getting the first seat in the school band. Before Lennie’s sister died she had never been in the spotlight, but throughout the story, she learns to be more than just a companion

The most significant symbol in this novel is the statue of David, which symbolizes Noah's homosexuality. When being wrestled for his sketchbook by Zephyr, Noah gets out, “‘They’re not dudes. They’re David’” (1). This quote conveys that Noah is still in the closet about his sexuality, which is later revealed. Patrica Hruby Powell from News Gazette also notices Nelsons use of symbols as she states, “Noah describes the paintings he will make. One is "Jude braiding boy after boy in her hair." He says, "She gives off light. I give off dark". Powell nudges at the symbol that expresss how Noah is the darkness and Jude is the light. Jandy Nelson uses the figurative element of symbolism to give the reader a better knowledge and appreciation of the text by using words in a different way so that they are more impactful. Another element Jandy Nelson is known for is using metaphors. She uses these to give a more in depth description to the words then the meanings of the words would on their own. An example of this is when she writes, “He’s treetop tall” (The Sky is Everywhere, 5). She is using the height of treetops to describe Joe’s height versus saying he is tall, this allows the audience to get a better