Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Title: Everything, Everything

Author: Nicola Yoon

Genre: Romance

Publisher: Alloy Entertainment, 2015

Length: 310 pages

Completed Reading: October 31, 2021

Summary

The young adult novel Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon follows the journey of young adult, Madi, and the events that precede her 18th birthday. Madi, whose mom is a doctor, has been diagnosed with SCID, a rare but deadly disease that has confined her to her home for as long as she can remember.

Just before her birthday, a new family moves into the house next door and we follow along as Madi navigates falling in love with the new neighbor, Olly, and struggling to cope with her illness.

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Review

What I enjoyed most about the novel is its structure. From keeping up with the constant instant messaging to the suspense of what will happen next between the two main characters, this is a witty and buoyant read.

The largest impact Everything, Everything had on me was considering how much fun it would be to teach this novel in my classroom. Although the novel is overall pretty romantic and lightweight, those qualities can act as a great introduction to some of the heavier topics we see appear throughout the text (illness, identity, love, trust, mother-daughter relationships). I would use these instances as a gateway to prompt students’ critical thinking and to connect their personal experiences.

Identity: 

Much like the students in our classrooms, Madison struggles to understand her place in the world as she knows it. She does not understand her diagnosis or how it came to be. She feels powerless in that regard and uses that emotion to find avenues for self-expression.

One of Madison’s vices of expression is a journal that she keeps to write movie and book reviews. Students can keep a journal of their own to connect with Madison’s character. As the teacher, I would employ reader response strategies to prompt their thinking.

• How does journaling relate to self-expression? How does Madison utilize her journal in the novel? What suggestions would you give Madi to further explore herself through journaling?
• How can readers track Madison’s emotions through her journal writing although she never explicitly confesses her first-hand experiences?
• Why do you think the author took this approach to Madi’s journaling and what impact does it have on you as a reader?

Questions of this caliber promote critical thinking in scholars. It encourages them to make deep-level connections with the text itself, the author’s choice of writing style, and character development. These questions also foster a personal connection with the text by asking students to provide advice for Madi’s character in regard to her journaling.

Multiliteracy:

Everything, Everything is loaded with ways in which we can teach and assess our students through multiple learning modalities. When considering the various learning styles in my classroom, I’ve thought of some ways to make lessons with this novel equitable and engaging for all my students.

• Comparison Essay- I think of this activity as an independent group activity. Students will use novel and film adaptations of Everything, Everything to construct a comparison essay. Though the essay portion is to be completed independently, students will work in their lit circle groups to support each other throughout the writing process. This will appeal to higher-level performing students as well as students who need more support and enjoy working in groups.
• Dramatic Monologue- Students will choose a character and create an original dramatic monologue extending a scene from the book or film. This activity allows students to connect with characters beyond what is offered in the book or film and interpret additional meaning into events from the story.
• Lit Circle Character Portrayal- With their lit circles, students will identify a character trait from a character of choice and draft an annotated description tracking that trait throughout the novel – ie: Madi’s determination. Students will then create an original scene to perform in class. This activity promotes creativity and collaboration in our students and it gets them out of their seats. This activity allows teachers to assess students’ knowledge of character development and gauge students’ perspectives of issues and ideas presented in the text.

Those are just a few initial thoughts I had after reading and assessing the novel from a teacher’s standpoint. Overall, my experience with this novel was refreshing. Although this is no groundbreaking problem novel, it offers a plethora of exciting possibilities for an instructional approach with a nonintimidating gateway into deeper conversations.

What more can you ask for?