How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I get a good look at him. I've forgotten quite how luminous he is, like another species of human that doesn't have blood but light running through their veins. (9.32)
Even before Lennie and Joe get together, Lennie has what seems to be something way stronger than a crush. She thinks of Joe as another species, someone who is completely foreign to her, but beautiful, in a primal earthly sort of way. When you read a line like this, you can probably make the educated guess that the characters will have some sort of romance.
Quote #2
I put aside for a moment the fact that I've turned into a total strumpet-harlot-trollop-wench-jezebel-tart-harridan-chippy-nymphet because I've just realized something incredible. This is it—what all the hoopla is about, what Wuthering Heights is about—it all boils down to this feeling rushing through me in this moment with Joe as our mouths refuse to part. (16.24)
Amazing use of vocab words, but that's beside the point. What's important about this quote is that Lennie is realizing the universality of what she's feeling. Her love connects her to heroines she's read about, like Cathy in Wuthering Heights, even though she's never thought of herself as heroine material before.
Quote #3
This morning, for the first time, Bailey wasn't my first thought on waking and it had made me feel guilty. But the guilt didn't have much of a chance against the dawning realization that I was falling in love. (19.8)
Lennie's guilt has been on almost every page, driving her for so much of the book that it's a relief to see something winning out over it. Love is even stronger than Lennie's seemingly insurmountable guilt.
Quote #4
She's pacing now, has lit another cigarette, is chain smoking in glee—a naked smokestack maniac. I'm so happy to be hanging out with the marvel that is my best friend Sarah. And I'm so happy to be happy about it. (19.22)
There are so many different types of love in The Sky is Everywhere. While the romantic love is fun, the book is by no means limited to that—Sarah's been a great friend to Lennie through the tragedy, and this is the first (but not the last) time that Lennie looks at her with love. It's like she's rediscovering her friend after a long trip.
Quote #5
"Okay, stop for a second." She's still smiling but she looks a bit worried and surprised too. "Lennie, you're not in love, you're demented. I've never heard anyone talk about a guy like this." (20.24)
This is no he's-taking-me-to-prom level romance. The love Lennie has for Joe is a full-on, no holds barred, Wuthering Heights type of love. To Sarah, it seems crazy because it's so intense. Which is actually similar to how Lennie used to feel about Bailey's love for Toby.
Quote #6
He looks at me then so nakedly, it makes me lightheaded, like I need to lie down even though I'm lying down. (23.87)
The way Joe bares his whole self to Lennie, and never holds back, is a pretty good sign he's in love with her. It's also a sign that he trusts her completely… which may complicate things later.
Quote #7
I realize something else too. I don't share this double grief. I have a mother and I'm standing so close to her, I can see the years weighing down her skin, can smell her tea-scented breath. I wonder if Bailey's search for Mom would have led her here too, right back to Gram. I hope so. (32.39)
It can be argued that real love is seeing someone for who they are, with the prettiness stripped away, and loving even those less pretty parts. Lennie loves her Gram for so many reasons, and in this moment, she loves her aged skin and tea breath. She realizes, at this moment, that Gram is basically her mother.
Quote #8
I will never stop grieving Bailey because I will never stop loving her. That's just how it is. Grief and love are conjoined, you don't get one without the other. All I can do is love her, and love the world, emulate her by living with daring and spirit and joy. (35.16)
If you could sum up the end of the book in one paragraph, this might be it. Lennie figures out that the best way to cope with grief is through love.
Quote #9
We stare at each other for a long moment and inside that moment I feel like we are kissing more passionately than we ever have even though we aren't touching. (37.33)
If you thought Lennie and Joe couldn't love each other more, think again, because here, they share a moment of understanding. Joe understands Lennie more than he ever has, because he's read all her secret poems. Victorian? Yes. Cornball? Sure. Sweet? Totally.
Quote #10
I reach for my pack, pull a small notebook out of it. I transcribed all the letters Gram wrote to our mom over the last sixteen years. I want Bailey to have those words. I want her to know that there will never be a story that she won't be a part of, that she's everywhere like the sky. (38.19)
Lennie rewrote thirteen letters just to put them at her sister's grave. That's an act of love. Lennie has figured out that her love for her sister doesn't have to disappear with Bailey's death, that she can still do things for Bailey. This realization seems to be helping her move on.