Ah, young love. In The Sky is Everywhere, Lennie's love for Joe is one of the most important threads in the story. For readers, it balances out all the death talk nicely, and it seems to do the same thing for Lennie—her feelings for Joe trump even her sorrow and guilt. And maybe because Lennie is obsessed with Victorian love (her favorite novelistic lovers, Catherine and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, love each other so deeply that they claim to belong to each other), her love for Joe is described beautifully and passionately.
But romantic love is by no means the only kind of love in this book. Lennie is surrounded by people who care deeply about her well being—Gram, Uncle Big, Sarah, and Toby. While losing her sister is horrible, Lennie is supported by all these other people, whether she sees that support or not. The question, as we read, is: Will she recognize the people who love her? And will she be able to support them back?
Questions About Love
- Do you think Lennie's love for Joe truly goes deeper than normal high school love, or does she just feel it differently because of her obsession with Victorian novels?
- Does Lennie's love for her best friend Sarah temporarily disappear when she turns away from her, or is it just overpowered by other emotions? What about her love for Gram?
- If Joe had not found Lennie's poems, do you think he would have been able to forgive her?
- Compare Lennie and Joe's romance to that of Lennie's favorite literary couple: Catherine and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights.
Chew on This
Lennie's love for Gram is stronger than her love for Joe.
The Sky is Everywhere is primarily a book about love.