Everything, Everything

Everything, Everything
by Nicola Yoon

From the publisher:
"Risk everything . . . for love.

What if you couldn’t touch anything in the outside world? Never breathe in the fresh air, feel the sun warm your face . . . or kiss the boy next door? In Everything, Everything, Maddy is a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world, and Olly is the boy who moves in next door . . . and becomes the greatest risk she’s ever taken.

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He's tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

Everything, Everything will make you laugh, cry, and feel everything in between. It's an innovative, inspiring, and heartbreakingly romantic debut novel that unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, illustrations, and more."

Parents, listen up! I am so torn on this book because I loved the story so much and for 99% of it, it is perfectly appropriate for middle schoolers. Alas, in my opinion, that 1% makes it inappropriate. I put off getting this one for several years, but after seeing that 7 of the middle schools in our district had it and after book talking it with an 8th grader who told me that there wasn't anything in it to cause concern, I purchased it. Now I can't decide whether to send it on to a high school, or just put a "Content Warning" label on it. The story is so good! Who wouldn't love Maddy and Olly? I so wanted them to have a happy ending, but had no idea how that could happen. The twist at the end wasn't a surprise to me after book talking with my 8th grader, but I could see it being a big shock to most readers. I did feel disappointed in the ending - it was just suddenly over. However, I loved it, with the caveat that it isn't appropriate for younger readers.

Areas of concern:
* I counted 12 instances of profanity and swearing.
* Abusive parent
* Mental illness
* About 4 pages of pretty descriptive nudity and foreplay with fade-to-black intercourse between 18 year-olds. 

Suggested Ages:

Booklist - Grades 8-11

Publisher's Weekly - Ages 12+
*** Mrs. Duke disagrees!  If it were my child, I would say 16+.***

Mustaches for Maddie

Mustaches for Maddie
by Chad Morris &
Shelly Brown

From the publisher:
"Maddie is a normal twelve-year-old girl. Well, except for the fake mustaches she carries in her pocket. She likes to make people laugh and slapping on a mustache, especially a fuzzy pink or neon green one, always gets a smile. Maddie hopes that the class queen, Cassie, will find her mustaches as funny as she does and want to play with her at recess. She's been self-conscious lately because her right arm only feels normal when it's curled against her chest and she's constantly tripping over her feet. But that's probably just part of growing up and not something weird, right?

When Maddie's arm continues to bother her, her parents take her to a doctor who gives them a shocking diagnosis: the cause of the abnormal behavior of her limbs is a brain tumor and she must have surgery to remove it. She's understandably afraid as he describes the procedure, but knows she must find a way to be brave and must face her fears--all of them--at the hospital, at home and at school.

She will need all of her courage not only to face her illness, but also to face Cassie at school. Both Cassie and Maddie are auditioning for the same role in the school play, but when Cassie accuses Maddie of lying about her tumor in order to get attention, Cassie's bossiness turns into bullying.

And as Maddie's surgery approaches, she begins to worry more and more about the outcome. What if something goes wrong? What if the doctors don't get all the tumor out of her brain? What will happen to her family? What will happen to her?

It will take all of Maddie's vibrant imagination, a lot of kindness-both given and received-and of course, the perfect mustache to overcome the tough stuff ahead of her."

I read so many amazing reviews about this book that I think I was expecting too much..... the new Wonder or something. It definitely was not that. It was a sweet, relatively cheesy story about a young girl with a brain tumor. Some parts felt very, very young, so I'm not sure how middle schoolers will feel about it. There is the requisite "mean girl", who is really so horribly mean that I'm not sure why we should care about what happens to her. There is the whole mustache thing that would be mocked mercilessly in middle school. So even though this book is based on the authors' daughter and her experiences, it didn't feel real at all. However, it may transfer to all of our students who love realistic fiction about medical issues. We'll see. It's a very safe, tame read.

Areas of concern:
*A viciously mean girl.
*Serious medical issues for a young girl.
*If religious references concern you, there is talk of a family praying for their daughter. No prayers are stated, just that prayers are being said.

Suggested Ages:

Publisher's Weekly - Ages 8-11

School Library Journal - Grades 4-6