I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson will be featured on the Radio 2 Book Club on Monday 13 April.
The book was selected with the help of a panel made up of Reading Agency and library staff from across the UK.
We have an exclusive extract available for you to read.
I’ll Give You the Sun
Jude and her twin Noah were incredibly close – until a tragedy drove them apart, and now they are barely speaking. Then Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy as well as a captivating new mentor, both of whom may just need her as much as she needs them. What the twins don’t realize is that each of them has only half the story and if they can just find their way back to one another, they have a chance to remake their world.
Selection Panel Review
Our reading panel of librarians and staff from The Reading Agency loved I’ll Give You the Sun – here are some of their comments:
“I don’t read many young adult novels and wasn’t expecting to like I’ll Give You the Sun, but from the first chapter I was gripped. The writing is smart, funny, warm and wonderfully inventive and you find yourself really caring and rooting for the two central characters – teenage twins Noah and Jude who are trying to navigate their way through bereavement and questions of sexuality and identity. Ultimately, the book’s about love and leaves you feeling uplifted and wanting to read it again!”
“This book just filled me with joy – it has been some time since I felt so strongly about characters in a book. They seemed real and well-rounded, I felt their pain and revelled in their joy. Having no interest in art I didn’t think I would connect to their artistic endeavours, but it was so well written I was drawn right in and wanted to buy a coffee table book of the pictures they described. I wanted to read it quickly but also didn’t want it to end. Loved it.”
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. A literary agent for many years, she received a BA from Cornell University and MFAs in Poetry and Children’s Writing from Brown University and Vermont College of Fine Arts. Currently a full-time writer, she lives and writes in San Francisco, California — not far from the settings of her novels.
Get involved
Tune in to Simon Mayo’s Drivetime show on Monday 13 April to hear a live interview with Jandy Nelson talking about her book.
Have you read I’ll Give You the Sun? You can share your thoughts on Twitter, or post a review. You can also follow author Jandy Nelson on Twitter.
Win 10 copies of I’ll Give You the Sun for your reading group – just complete our short survey.
Want to find out more? The Radio 2 Book Club has a dedicated Twitter feed.
