Synopses & Reviews
**A Publishers Weekly Best Book of Summer 2014** **A Summer 2014 Indie Next List Pick**
**A 2014 Junior Library Guild Selection**
**A Los Angeles Times Summer Reading Guide Selection**
**An Entertainment Weekly YA Novel to Watch Out For**
Fate brought them together. Will life tear them apart?
Devorah is a consummate good girl who has never challenged the ways of her strict Hasidic upbringing.
Jaxon is a fun-loving, book-smart nerd who has never been comfortable around girls (unless you count his four younger sisters).
They've spent their entire lives in Brooklyn, on opposite sides of the same street. Their paths never crossed . . . until one day, they did.
When a hurricane strikes the Northeast, the pair becomes stranded in an elevator together, where fate leaves them no choice but to make an otherwise risky connection.
Though their relation is strictly forbidden, Devorah and Jax arrange secret meetings and risk everything to be together. But how far can they go? Just how much are they willing to give up?
In the timeless tradition of West Side Story and Crossing Delancey, this thoroughly modern take on romance will inspire laughter, tears, and the belief that love can happen when and where you least expect it.
Review
"Okay. I admit it. I've got a huge crush on this book - it's beautiful, brilliant, passionate, funny, sexy and deep. Come to think of it, I might even want to marry this book..." - Sonya Sones, author of
What My Mother Doesn't Know "Full of heart, quirky charm, and beautiful writing, The Sky Is Everywhere simply shines." - Deb Caletti, National Book Award Finalist and author of The Secret Life of Prince Charming
"Jandy Nelson completely won me over through Lennie, whose story of grief somehow manages to be an enchantment, a celebration, a romance - without forsaking the rock-hard truths of loss." - Sara Zarr, National Book Award Finalist and author of Story of a Girl and Sweethearts
"WOW. I sobbed my eyes out and then laughed through the tears. I have not fallen in love with a story and its characters like this in a long time. Stunning, heartbreaking, hilarious. A story that shakes the Earth." - An Na, Printz Award Winner and National Book Award Finalist "The Sky Is Everywhere evokes the intensity of desire and agony of heartache with breathtaking clarity. This beautifully written story will leave an indelible impression upon your soul." -Susane Colasanti, author of When It Happens
"Jandy Nelson (remember that name), has written a YA novel with the best voice I have read since Laurie Halse Andersen's Speak." - Jane Yolen
Review
"This honest, complex debut is distinguished by a dreamy California setting and poetic images that will draw readers in to Lennie's world." -
Publishers Weekly, starred review
"It+s romantic without being gooey and tearjerking without being campy-what more could a reader want?" -BCCB, starred review
Review
Advance Praise for
Like No Other by Una LaMarche
"This story is ‘bittersweet in every good way. I couldnt stop thinking about it, and about the good hearts and thoughtful minds of the hero and heroine. Romantic and true...you wont be able to stop thinking about this book. A perfect depiction of love and loss." -Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of My Life Next Door and What I Thought Was True
"A heartbreaking story about finding your first true love -- that is also a heart-filling story about finding your own truth." -Nancy Werlin, Edgar Award Winner and National Book Award Finalist
"Like No Other is a powerful and not-put-downable story of forbidden love. Una LaMarche has created two brave teenagers who readers will root for to the very last page." -Carolyn Mackler, bestselling author of Tangled and co-author of The Future of Us
Review
A 2014 Junior Library Guild Selection
Review
"Nelson's first novel is tender, romantic, and loaded with passion."—
The Horn Book
"The author brilliantly navigates Lennie's course between despair and hope, sorrow and humor... a gripping love triangle."—Shelf Awareness
"In this amazing tale of love and loss, Nelson introduces a cast of characters who make the reader laugh and cry."—NPR's The Roundtable
"Nearly everyone who's staggering through life in the wake of a loved one's death will recognize themselves in this brilliant, piercing story."—The Denver Post
* "This is distinguished by the dreamy California setting and poetic images that will draw readers into Lennie's world..."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A joy to read. You'll remember [it] long after you've turned the last page."—The Romantic Times
* "It's romantic without being gooey and tear-jerking without being campy—what more could a reader want?"—BCCB, starred review
* "This is a passionate, vulnerable, wonderfully complete and irresistible book."—VOYA, starred review
"[Nelson] writes with abandon... it's a headlong kind of book, preferably devoured at a single setting."—Los Angeles Times
"Brimming with humor and life, full of music and the poems Lennie drops all over town, The Sky is Everywhere explores betrayal and forgiveness through a vibrant cast of characters."—SLJ
"Those who think young adult books can't be as literary, rich, and mature as their adult counterparts will be disabused of that notion after reading The Sky is Everywhere... A finely-drawn portrait of grief and first love."—The Daily Beast
"A story of love, loss, and healing that will resonate with readers long after they've finished reading."—Booklist
"A story about love and loss... both heartfelt and literary."—Kirkus Reviews
"Sky is both a profound meditation on loss and grieving and an exhilarating and very sexy romance. The book deserves multiple readings simply to savor Nelson's luscious language..."—NPR (chosen by Gayle Forman as one of the top five teen reads of 2010)
"How grief and love run side by side is sensitively and intensely explored in this energetic, poetic, and warm-blooded novel."—The Guardian
"An addictive, romantic, heartbreaking, and wise tale of one girl's epic loss—and equally epic self-discovery. Seriously, stop reading this blurb; start reading this book!"—Gayle Forman, author of the New York Times Bestseller If I Stay
"Wow. I sobbed my eyes out and then laughed through the tears. I have not fallen in love with a story and its characters like this in a long time. Stunning, heartbreaking, hilarious. A story that shakes the earth."—An Na, winner of the Michael L. Printz Award and National Book Award Finalist
"Okay, I admit it. I have a huge crush on this book—it's beautiful, brilliant, passionate, funny, sexy, and deep. Come to think of it, I might even want to marry this book."—Sonya Sones, author of What My Mother Doesn't Know
"Full of heart, quirky charm, and beautiful writing, The Sky Is Everywhere simply shines."—Deb Caletti, National Book Award Finalist and author of The Secret Life of Prince Charming
"Jandy Nelson's story of grief somehow manages to be an enchantment, a celebration, a romance—without forsaking the rock-hard truths of loss."—Sara Zarr, National Book Award Finalist and author of Story of a Girl and Sweethearts
"The Sky Is Everywhere evokes the intensity of desire and agony of heartache with breathtaking clarity. This beautifully written story will leave an indelible impression upon your soul."—Susane Colasanti, author of When It Happens
A Publishers Weekly Flying Start Title
A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominee
A Junior Library Guild Selection
Translated into seventeen different languages
Review
Praise for
Like No Other:
“[T]he dire consequences that threaten this clandestine romance make the novel read like a thriller…Readers will fall for these two love-struck teenagers as easily as they fall for each other.”
-Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“One of the most poignant and star-crossed love stories since The Fault in Our Stars.”
-Entertainment Weekly
"Electrifying…surprisingly seductive. LaMarche expertly conjures up what high-stakes infatuation feels like."
-The New York Times Book Review
"...[a] refreshing tale of forbidden love."
-People Magazine
"Una LaMarche tells a truly complex urban story worth telling: An Orthodox Jewish girl and West Indian dork fall in love in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and beat the odds of conservative values trying to keep them apart."
-Vogue.com
"You root for Devorah and Jaxon because you remember you were once like them. From our first love or our first rebellion, they are a way for us to relive those strange and exciting days."
-The Boston Herald
"...romantic and wonderful and heartbreaking..."
--Slate.com
“Like No Other is a moving, coming-of-age story that will have even adults remembering the burning intensity and insecurities of their first love.”
-VOYA
“LaMarche alternates between the two perspectives, prefacing each chapter with a date and time stamp, underlining how time expands and contracts in odd ways when one is in love. [Devorah and Jaxons] time together is forbidden and precious, making each moment simultaneously infinite and too short. Fans of Rainbow Rowells Eleanor and Park…will enjoy this story of surprising love.”
-School Library Journal
"...readers will be fascinated by this peek into a different world, empathetic with the couples feelings and buoyed by the hopeful ending."
-Booklist
"[Devorah's" struggle between tradition and modernity, filial duty and personal fulfillment, is complicated and realistic...This leads to a conclusion that, while bittersweet, is still hopeful."
-Horn Book
"Devorahs narration is eye-opening, especially for young women who have always taken the rules, spoken and unspoken, of their communities for granted."
-BCCB
Review
Awards and Nominations:
**A Publishers Weekly Best Book of Summer 2014**
**A Summer 2014 Indie Next List Pick**
**A 2014 Junior Library Guild Selection**
**a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2015 nominee**
**A Los Angeles Times Summer Reading Guide Selection**
**An Entertainment Weekly YA Novel to Watch Out For**
Review
“
Like No Other is a bold and passionate portrayal of the bond that can bridge any gap or surmount any barrier, that universal fire that flickers beneath each of our distinct and sometimes misunderstood identities. The relationship between Devorah and Jaxon is emblematic of the warmth and curiosity that exists in its most pure form in the hearts of young people, a compassion that if nurtured and embraced has the power to transcend the ubiquitous pressure of externally wrought perspectives.” -
Deborah Feldman, author of
Exodus and the
New York Times bestseller,
Unorthodox
"This story is ‘bittersweet in every good way. I couldnt stop thinking about it, and about the good hearts and thoughtful minds of the hero and heroine. Romantic and true...you wont be able to stop thinking about this book. A perfect depiction of love and loss." -Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of My Life Next Door and What I Thought Was True
"A heartbreaking story about finding your first true love -- that is also a heart-filling story about finding your own truth." -Nancy Werlin, Edgar Award Winner and National Book Award Finalist
"Like No Other is a powerful and not-put-downable story of forbidden love. Una LaMarche has created two brave teenagers who readers will root for to the very last page." -Carolyn Mackler, bestselling author of Tangled and co-author of The Future of Us
“Like No Other will make you believe in the transforming power of first love.” -Melissa Walker, author of Violet on the Runway, Violet by Design and Violet in Private
Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly 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.
This remarkable debut is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block. Just as much a celebration of love as it is a portrait of loss, Lennie’s struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often hilarious, and ultimately unforgettable.
Watch a Video
Synopsis
Lennie Walker, a 17-year-old bookworm and band geek, spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey suddenly dies, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life.
Synopsis
Lennie plays second clarinet in the school orchestra and has always happily been second fiddle to her charismatic older sister, Bailey. Then Bailey dies suddenly, and Lennie is left at sea without her anchor. Overcome by emotion, Lennie soon finds herself torn between two boys: Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, and Joe, the charming and musically gifted new boy in town. While Toby can't see her without seeing Bailey and Joe sees her only for herself, each offers Lennie something she desperately needs. But ultimately, it's up to Lennie to find her own way toward what she really needs-without Bailey. A remarkable debut novel perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block.
Synopsis
Adrift after her sister Bailey's sudden death, Lennie finds herself torn between quiet, seductive TobyBailey's boyfriend who shares her griefand Joe, the new boy in town who bursts with life and musical genius. Each offers Lennie something she desperately needs... though she knows if the two of them collide her whole world will explode.
Join Lennie on this heartbreaking and hilarious journey of profound sorrow and mad love, as she makes colossal mistakes and colossal discoveries, as she traipses through band rooms and forest bedrooms and ultimately right into your heart.
As much a celebration of love as a poignant portrait of loss, Lennie's struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often uproarious, and absolutely unforgettable.
Synopsis
Stereotypes, sexuality, and destructive rumors collide in this smart YA novel for fans of Sara Zarrs Story of a Girl, Siobhan Vivians The List, and E. Lockharts The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.
When Rebecca Rivers lands the lead in her schools production of The Crucible, she gets to change roles in real life, too. She casts off her old reputation, grows close with her four rowdy cast-mates, and kisses the extremely handsome Charlie Lamb onstage. Even Mr. McFadden, the plays critical director, can find no fault with Rebecca.
Though The Essential Five” vow never to date each other, Rebecca cant help her feelings for Charlie, leaving her both conflicted and lovestruck. But the on and off-stage drama of the cast is eclipsed by a life-altering accusation that threatens to destroy everything
even if some of it is just make believe.
Video
About the Author
Jandy Nelson, like her characters in I'll Give You the Sun and The Sky is Everywhere, comes from a superstitious lot. She was tutored from a young age in the art of the four-leaf clover hunt; she knocks wood, throws salt, and carries charms in her pockets. Her novels have been on multiple best of the year lists and earned many starred reviews. I'll Give You the Sun is a New York Times Bestseller, and her debut novel, The Sky Is Everywhere, was a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick and international success. Currently a full-time writer, Jandy lives and writes in San Francisco, California--not far from the settings of her novels.