Give It Forward Book Giveaway!

We need to talk about this book...

THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson blows. my. mind. Boom. Gone. Again and again. I just read it a third time, despite an elephant ton of other books I need to read, because it's just that good. It works for me in every way, on every level. So much so that if you try to tell me you don’t like it, I’m very likely to stick my fingers in my ears and go, LALALALALALALA WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU LALALALALALA.

It is absolutely, positively (absoposilutely!) my new favorite YA book and I cannot imagine it will be trumped anytime soon. If ever. Here’s the blurb:

Lennie plays second clarinet in the school orchestra and has always happily been second fiddle to her charismatic older sister, Bailey. Then Bailey dies suddenly, and Lennie is left at sea without her anchor. Overcome by emotion, Lennie soon finds herself torn between two boys: Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, and Joe, the charming and musically gifted new boy in town. While Toby can't see her without seeing Bailey and Joe sees her only for herself, each offers Lennie something she desperately needs. But ultimately, it's up to Lennie to find her own way toward what she really needs without Bailey. A remarkable debut novel perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block.

I have to admit, I have a fondness for stories that deal with death and grief. Weird as that sounds, I love the raw emotions, how they make me feel, and boy does this book make me FEEL. I don’t think a book has ever made me feel SO MUCH. So yes, I was already set to love this book, but I wasn’t expecting the romance, which is lovely and complicated and consuming, or the quirky characters I miss when I’m not spending time in their pages, or the poetry, or the writing… Oh my God, the writing…

Observe:

“It’s as if someone vacuumed up the horizon while we were looking the other way.” (13)

AND…

“Sadness pulses out of us as we walk. I almost expect the trees to lower their branches when we pass, the stars to hand down some light. I breathe in the horsy scent of eucalyptus, the thick sugary pine, aware of each breath I take, how each one keeps me in the world a few seconds longer. I taste the sweetness of the summer air on my tongue and want to just gulp and gulp and gulp it into my body—this living, breathing, heart-beating body of mine.” (85)

AND…

“I look into his sorrowless eyes and a door in my heart blows open. And when we kiss, I see that on the other side of that door is the sky.” (120)

*Dies*

I want to be Jandy Nelson when I grow up.

T.H. MAfi feels me. Read her post. Carrie Harris is DEAD because of this book. Read her post here.

BUT MOVING ON. I was trying to think of a way to support a book I love this much and other books I love terribly and I got an IDEA for a special giveaway.

Here’s the deal. I’m going to give away THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, order a brand new copy for someone. A hardcover, since the paperback isn’t out quite yet (unless you REALLY want a preorder of the paperback – your choice). You can enter below.

BUT (and this is a big BUT) here’s the catch, to enter my giveaway you have to be willing to do the SAME giveaway on your blog or Facebook. Meaning, you have to buy the book for someone else within TWO WEEKS of receiving the book from me. Your ONLY out is this: if you don’t love THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE enough to keep it and buy it for someone, you can give away the one you’ve received from me. But the giveaway has to continue. Meaning, whoever wins your giveaway has to buy it for their winner or give away the one they’ve received from you, depending on their feelings on it. However, it is my hope that this will create a chain of PURCHASES in order to support the title. Not a big pass-the-book-around fest. In fact, you might even consider starting your giveaway right after you win, just to support the author, particularly if you already planned to buy the book at some point. Because you won’t be out any more money than you would have been. Right? And because this book is SO, SO, SO good I think it’s the perfect candidate. I think you WILL want to keep this book and buy it for someone else. It’ll be beautiful. We’ll all be buying it for each other and spreading the word about a fantastic book and author.

I realize it will fizzle out somewhere. Someone will FAIL the chain. They’ll FAIL me or you or the next person. But imagine the possibilities for a minute.

*Taps foot*

AWESOME, RIGHT?

So let’s do this! RULES:

1. You MUST have a blog or Facebook or somewhere you can give the book away and be clear about the rules (Twitter can’t support it, for example).

2. You MUST be willing to hold this exact giveaway on your blog or Facebook in which you purchase this book for someone else (or give away the one you receive from me, IF you don’t love it) and require that YOUR winner do the same. Preferably within TWO WEEKS of receiving the book from me.

2. If you win, I ask that you PLEASE enter your giveaway into the linky widget below and have YOUR winner do the same on this post (not on your blog). So we can track how long the chain lasts and how many purchases we achieve.

3. U.S. entrants only.

4. Spreading the word will gain you extra entries. Stalking Jandy Nelson on the net (only on the net!) will also get you extra entries. See the form.

5. The contest will run February 9th to February 15th ‘til MIDNIGHT. I will announce the winner on February 16th and the chain will commence.

Additionally, if you love THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE as much as I do and you’d like to start your own giveaway chain, PLESE DO and add yourself to the linky widget below. If enough people jump in, I’ll do a giveaway just for YOU. Like, I’ll order one winner whatever book they want (with a normal paperback or hardcover price). Sound good? YES, I love this book THAT MUCH.

~CONTEST CLOSED / FORM REMOVED~ But please see the linky widget below for new giveaways in the chain.

If you are the WINNER of this giveaway or someone else’s giveaway for THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE chain, please enter thyself into the linky widget below when you post your giveaway. Or, If you are starting a new giveaway chain for THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE enter thyself into this linky as soon as your post is up.

I hope you guys love this idea as much as I do! It’ll be a bit of an experiment. Let’s see what happens!