I’ll Give You the Sun is a Young Adult novel by Jandy Nelson. We first meet the twins Jude and Noah at the age of 13, living with their parents Benjamin and Dianna. Dianna is artistic and believes in ghosts while Benjamin is “an artichoke” and “a thistle-head who studies parasites”.
Mom has a massive sunflower for a soul so big there’s hardly any room in her for organs. Jude and me have one soul between us that we have to share: a tree with its leaves on fire. And Dad has a plate of maggots for his.
Jude and Noah grow up close and in sync, able to read each other, united in the world. They are also competitive with each other, intent on winning against each other. They play a game where they divide up the world, the sun, stars, oceans, all the trees, flowers to see who can own more of it. But as they begin to explore identity and sexuality, findinging their way in the world, the shutters come down and distance grows between them. Their game becomes more sinister, with lies, secrets and betrayals.
Jude and Noah grow up close and in sync, able to read each other, united in the world. They are also competitive with each other, intent on winning against each other. They play a game where they divide up the world, the sun, stars, oceans, all the trees, flowers to see who can own more of it. But as they begin to explore identity and sexuality, findinging their way in the world, the shutters come down and distance grows between them. Their game becomes more sinister, with lies, secrets and betrayals.
Jude and Noah are both creative and their mother wants them to both attend California School of the Arts. Noah, especially, is excited. Through a series of choices each twin makes, their competition and rivalry overrides their camaraderie and twinness. When tragedy strikes the family, closely followed by only one of them getting accepted to CSA, both twins lose themselves. It becomes a struggle for them to find themselves, each other, and their place in the world. The Sweetwine family has to find its way back to joy and love.
Magical Realism
In I’ll Give You the Sun, Jude has the Sweetwine gift, the ability to connect with the occult. She receives visits from her grandmother (the good ghost) and her mother (the bad ghost). Noah also feels his mother’s presence, in how she slows down his falls when he dives. There are a few other touches as well but I don’t want to introduce any more spoilers.
Art and Language
The writing in the book is colorful. When Noah paints events in his life, we learn the title of these paintings. Jude’s gift is with sewing and dressmaking but she brings in magic from The Bible, the book of wisdom and superstition inherited from her grandmother.
Final Verdict on I’ll Give You The Sun
I’ll Give You the Sun is a coming of age story. There is betrayal, jealousy, lies and secrets but also hope. It may be possible to get another chance to remake the world.
if God can have two tries, why not us? Or three or three hundred tries.
Initially I wondered if this was a book of fantasy but then I realized that it’s one that expresses the inner magic that may not have any outward manifestation. It is a beautifully written book, full of simile and metaphors. I highly recommend this book.
Have you read the book and are looking for spoilers? Check out The Ending of I’ll Give You the Sun.
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