I Read... I'll Give You the Sun

Another great book that I read over my Easter break was I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson.  In a way it reminded me of a book that I read a couple of months ago, We Were Liars because the story was told in bits and pieces, switching narrators and moving from past to present.  I'll Give You the Sun tells the story of twins Noah and Jude.  They were as close as can be, NoahandJude, until one day they stopped talking and interacting with one another.

As the story progressed, each new character or new piece of information becomes a piece of the puzzle.  The twins tell their stories separately, and the reader slowly puts the two stories together.  What really happened to each twin and their respective romantic interests?  What about the mother?  Father?  The mysterious sculptor?  The handsome boy with the crooked face?  Nobody knows just how intertwined these two stories are until the very end.

Themes involving death, superstition, and the importance of art and passion weave throughout the main mystery.  I thought that Noah did a great job of illustrating the importance of art in his life.  His description of the painting that he would create at key moments in his life showed the way that an artist's mind work in a way that I haven't seen described anywhere else.  Jude's connection to art had more to do with seeking a connection to her family members, but seeing her need to create certain sculptures broke my heart.

I found I'll Give You the Sun to be a very satisfying story.  In the end, it's really about the love of a family and, in particular, the love that two siblings have for one another.  I thought that the author did a great job of showing how families can often struggle through the teenage years and then come back together.  It was a great twist on the typical, predictable teenage angst story- definitely worth a read if you're looking for a good book to read out on your deck as the warm weather is coming.

Food for thought... what is the best YA book that you've read lately?