Jude and Noah are twins. They share an intense empathetic connection and are very close at age thirteen. Jude is reckless, rebellious and communicates with the ghost of Grandma Sweetwine while Noah is awkward, isolated and thinks and feels in color. Both are artistically talented, and their mother has hopes of the twins going to California School of the Arts for high school. But at sixteen, events in their lives have divided and changed them. They are not themselves and the twins barely tolerate each other.
Told with alternating narrators, each twin narrates their tale. Noah describing their lives at thirteen and Jude picking up the story three years later. I’ll Give You the Sun is the 2015 Printz Award winner for excellence in Young Adult Literature. (mature read)
John Rodgers loves to run. On one of his runs through the redwood forest of his small California town, John notices a beautiful blue butterfly. Later in Biology class, John discovers that the butterfly is an endangered species. The butterfly’s habitat is threatened by the local logging industry. This pits environmentalists against the locals, and John is right in the middle.
DJ lives and works on her family’s dairy farm. She has spent the summer running the farm while her dad recovered from an operation. A football coach friend of her father’s loaned the family the services of Brian Nelson, the cute quarterback from Hawley High. Brian helps DJ with work around the farm and she, in turn, helps him train. DJ knows football. Her two older brothers are attending college on football scholarships and her dad is a former coach. Training Brian and all the hard work on the farm has DJ in great shape, so DJ decides to try out for the Red Bend team. A girl trying out for the football team! DJ is the talk of Red Bend.
Julianna has had a “crush” on Bryce ever since she saw him when she was seven and they were in second grade. But Bryce, being a typical second-grade boy, would have nothing to do with Julianna. Bryce and Juilianna are now in eighth grade. Bryce’s grandfather has moved in with the family and he has noticed what a wonderful young lady Julianna is. Bryce notices that Julianna no longer follows him around like a puppy dog any more. She’s moved on to other interests. Bryce finds himself thinking quite a bit about Julianna. Bryce has fallen in love with Julianna and the roles have flipped!