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Quote by Jandy Nelson

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I'll Give You the Sun

This novel follows the lives of two sisters, whose bond is tested by the complexities of life and the passage of time. Set against the backdrop of a coastal town, the story delves into the emotional and physical transformations they experience as they navigate the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood. more

Author

Jandy Nelson
Jandy Nelson

Jandy Nelson is an American writer known for her young adult literature, which often delves into the emotional and identity struggles of adolescence, resonating with readers across generations. more

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“So tell me: were you born broken just like me, born hungry? Are we all of us born with some part of us missing? Are we each us born with a hole?....Born with a hole and no earthly way of finding just the exact right plug to fill it, not 'til you've tried 'em from A to Z and back once more: booze, fags, work, candy, men, girls, heroin, methedrine, methadone, God. Tried having a baby. Tried killing yourself. A hundred religions, from Calvin to the Dalai Lama and back again; tried every damn thing you could think of and some you had to stumble over....You stick a plug in your weakness like a finger in the proverbial dike and let pressure build up let it swell and swell 'til there's nothing left but tension, nothing left but what's left over--the absence, not the presence. The wound you shape your soul around.”

“This one night we were smoking a joint up on the roof of this apartment over on Santa Monica and Wyatt said, ‘I love you so much and I don’t understand why you don’t love me.’ I said, ‘I love you as much as I’m willing to love anybody.’/ And then he had this chorus about me having a big heart but no love in it. I kept looking at the words, thinking, This isn’t right. He didn’t understand me at all. So I thought about it for a little while and got out a pen and paper. I wrote some things down. When he woke up, I said, ‘Your chorus should be more like Big eyes, big soul/big heart, no control/but all she got to give is tiny love.”

“So tell me: were you born broken just like me, born hungry? Are we all of us born with some part of us missing? Are we each us born with a hole?....Born with a hold and no earthly way of finding just the exact right plug to fill it, not 'til you've tried 'em from A to Z and back once more: booze, fags, work, candy, men, girls, heroin, methedrine, methadone, God. Tried having a baby. Tried killing yourself. A hundred religions, from Calvin to the Dalai Lama and back again; tried every damn thing you could think of and some you had to stumble over....You stick a plug in your weakness like a finger in the proverbial dike and let pressure build up let it swell and swell 'til there's nothing left but tension, nothing left but what's left over--the absence, not the presence. The wound you shape your soul around.”