Every Little Thing in the World: Review

Title: Every Little Thing in the World

Author: Nina de Gramont

Release Date: March 2010

Published By: Atheneum

Pages: 288

Goodreads Rating: 3.73 stars

Review: When sixteen-year-old Sydney's pregnancy test has the dreaded plus sign, she confides in her best friend Natalia, and they borrow her mom's car to confront the baby's father. Before they get far, though, the police catch them and bring them back home, where their parents send them off to wilderness camp. Now the clock is ticking, and Sydney's not sure what choice to make. As she meets more and more people and finds friends in the strangest of places, she learns that the right choice can mean many different things.

I know what you're thinking when you read the synopsis of EVERY LITTLE THING IN THE WORLD: Oh, another pregnancy book. And that's what I thought too, and I really only picked this up on a whim. Oh, how wrong I was. How very, very wrong. This book is anything BUT the typical pregnancy book. Yes, Sydney is a pregnant teenager who doesn't want to tell her mom and isn't sure if she should get an abortion, and yes, it was a big focus, but there was so, so much more to this story.

This book could still stand just fine even if the whole pregnancy angle was taken out. The camp Sydney and Natalia attend is far different from any camp I've ever attended (or would want to). The counselors are distant and rather abnormal, and the other campers aren't exactly your average high schoolers either, which made for both emotional and hilarious moments throughout the novel.

And speaking of the emotions, it's so rare for a book to make me so entirely invested in a character that it affects my moods even when I put the book down. At the low points, I found myself put in a depressed haze (so, yes, be wary if you're very easily depressed, but do keep in mind that *minor spoiler alert* a happy ending *end spoiler alert*) and I was rooting so hard for Sydney.

Even with the emotional roller coaster this novel put me on, by the end, I experienced this quiet sort of satisfaction from it. Quite honestly, this book is just pleasurable to read, with its grit and honesty and well, just plain awesome-ness. My only complaint would be that the resolution concerning Sydney and her mother came far too easily after all the build-up, but other than that, the ending was perfect.

If you don't usually enjoy teen pregnancy novels, or you do but just want something different, then EVERY LITTLE THING IN THE WORLD is for you. I can't emphasize just how spectacular this contemporary novel is, from the sympathy-drawing characters to the stunning emotions to the laugh-out-loud moments, and highly recommend that everyone give it a try.