The sibling rivalry between Jude and Noah began with their birth, twins vying for the affection and pride of their mother. However, their tight conspiracy is quickly curdled as Noah's artistic feats steal the awe of their mother, while Jude falls in the shadows, too shy to show her mother her own majestic creations. However, while the thirteen year old twins strive to break their ties, three years past finds them regretting the emotional scars formed by their sudden and mysterious separation. While quiet and shy Noah struggles to understand his attraction to his charismatic friend, Brian, Jude tries to wrestle with the ghosts disrupting her peace and the haunting suspicion that she is responsible for everything falling apart.
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| I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. PHOTO. Megan Bryant. |
This novel is heart breaking and insightful into the stress and confusion of being a teenager. From identity, to acceptance, to forgiveness, I'll Give You the Sun wrestles with some difficult topics of family and growing up. As much as I enjoyed this text, I feel the relationships are overshadowed by the teens' romantic impulses causing a theatrical distortion of love and romance. However, I have had one friend insist it was a fairly accurate depiction of teen perceptions of love. So I will leave it up to you to decide.
TO PARENTS:
This novel discusses sexual identity and discovery among teens--although it is a far cry from a romance novel. Besides this there is extra-marital affairs, teen drinking, suicide and depression. The parents in this novel are not picture perfect, but considering the marital conflict I believe this text gives a fair portrayal of both sides of the story. Nelson avoided creating a villain in this text and relies on the honest struggles of life to unfold the story. I found it insightful and it forced me to stop and reconsider any presuppositions I held before the story. I would consider reading this first if you are unsure whether your child is ready for the topics discussed; but I believe this would be a great text to use as a spring board to begin discussing those difficult topics with your adolescents. For more information I highly recommend you look into my digital essay about the text. You can find it under Mrs. Bryant's Text Inspired Projects along the left column or follow the link.
This novel discusses sexual identity and discovery among teens--although it is a far cry from a romance novel. Besides this there is extra-marital affairs, teen drinking, suicide and depression. The parents in this novel are not picture perfect, but considering the marital conflict I believe this text gives a fair portrayal of both sides of the story. Nelson avoided creating a villain in this text and relies on the honest struggles of life to unfold the story. I found it insightful and it forced me to stop and reconsider any presuppositions I held before the story. I would consider reading this first if you are unsure whether your child is ready for the topics discussed; but I believe this would be a great text to use as a spring board to begin discussing those difficult topics with your adolescents. For more information I highly recommend you look into my digital essay about the text. You can find it under Mrs. Bryant's Text Inspired Projects along the left column or follow the link.
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