Kelly Quindlen displays the internal battle of religious guilt from the perspective of a teenage girl fighting with what’s been ingrained in her since she was a child in Her Name in the Sky. The young adult romance, LGBT literature, and coming of age novel follows the point of view of high schooler Hannah Eaden. It holds shame, peace, anxiety, and love within each of its pages. Hannah Grew up in a catholic community, attended school in a conservative Louisiana community, and finds herself falling in love with her best friend, Baker Hadley. She really just wants to spend her senior year partying with her closest friends, living the life she always thought she would. She battles with her mind, the unexpected circumstances of falling in love with Baker, and the rules of her conservative community as she works to love herself, and just maybe, love Baker too.

Even with the difficult to read scenes, Kelly Quidlen approaches them with careful consideration of the mind of a teenage girl working on finding herself. Hannah Eaden struggles with the rules she’s followed ever since her childhood and being constantly berated by some adults in her life for who she is. Throughout the book, Hannah discovers she’s not completely alone in this world and there are people who care about her. “‘Love ultimately wins, Hannah. Love ultimately saves’” (Quindlen 368).

Overall, Kelly Quindlen writes a beautiful story of self-discovery and self-love through Hannah Eaden. I really enjoyed following her storyline and would rate this a four, and maybe even, five out of five stars. It was really the perfect blend of best friends to lovers, childhood angst, religious guilt, and growing into the best and truest version of yourself. Hannah Eaden is a relatable teenager who just wants the ability to be herself, and Her Name in the Sky displays it so well, summed up into a quote from the novel, “She sees herself, and she does not look away”
(Quindlen 372).