Every Single Second

by Tricia Springstubb, Diana Sudyka (Illustrator)

Overview

A poignant and topical middle grade novel about the effects of an accidental shooting on family, friendship, and community. Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead and Rita Williams-Garcia. Now available in paperback.

A single second. That’s all it takes to turn a world upside-down.

Twelve-year-old Nella Sabatini’s life is changing too soon, too fast. Her best friend Clem doesn’t seem concerned; she’s busy figuring out the best way to spend the “leap second”—an extra second about to be added to the world’s official clock.

The only person who might understand how Nella feels is Angela, but the two of them have gone from being “secret sisters” to not talking at all.

Then Angela’s idolized big brother makes a terrible, fatal mistake, one that tears apart their tight-knit community and plunges his family into a whirlwind of harsh publicity. In the midst of this controversy, Nella is faced with startling revelations about her parents, friends, and neighborhood. Soon she must choose whether to stand by or stand up.

The clock ticks down, and in that extra second, past and present merge—the future will be up to Nella.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062366290
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/14/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	1,145,885
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tricia Springstubb is the author of the acclaimed middle grade novels What Happened on Fox Street and Mo Wren, Lost and Found as well as the picture book Phoebe & Digger. The mother of three grown daughters, she lives with her husband and cats in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. You can visit her online at www.triciaspringstubb.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ “With an engaging protagonist, a fast-moving story, important themes subtly conveyed, and touches of humor, this is a richly layered story that will have wide appeal.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

★ “Nella’s growing awareness of endings and beginnings, the meaning of friendship, and the power of choices combine to create an unsettling, compelling, and heartwarming tale.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A complex and rich tale, one that will have readers pondering, along with Nella, life’s big questions.” — Horn Book Magazine

“Springstubb admirably takes on a sensitive and difficult contemporary American issue. Sure to spark discussion in classrooms and book clubs.” — School Library Journal

“Rich in complex issues that include caring for the elderly, the problems of friendship, and the role of God in everyday life.” — Booklist

From the Publisher

Rich in complex issues that include caring for the elderly, the problems of friendship, and the role of God in everyday life.

Booklist

A complex and rich tale, one that will have readers pondering, along with Nella, life’s big questions.

Horn Book Magazine

Rich in complex issues that include caring for the elderly, the problems of friendship, and the role of God in everyday life.

Booklist

★ 04/11/2016
Springstubb (Moonpenny Island) contemplates the concept of time throughout this wrenching coming-of-age novel, which explores the complex and often painful dynamics among family and friends. In chapters labeled “then” and “now,” the narrative switches between Nella Sabatini’s present, at age 12, and her younger years. When Anthony, the beloved older brother of Nella’s friend Angela, pulls the trigger in a shooting that leaves an African-American man dead, the incident polarizes black and Italian-American communities and raises the ghost of a tragedy from years before (“ ‘Oh no,’ whispered Mom.... ‘Not again’.... The past rushed up and plowed into the present, a terrible collision, a horrible accident”). The temporal theme unfolds through short interludes from a statue’s perspective, Angela’s father’s post-traumatic stress disorder (“It all comes back over him, and it’s like he’s right there again”), and Nella’s friend Clem’s obsession with time. Nella’s growing awareness of endings and beginnings, the meaning of friendship, and the power of choices combine to create an unsettling, compelling, and heartwarming tale. Art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (June)

Publishers Weekly

05/01/2016
Gr 4–6—Nella has grown up in an insular Little Italy neighborhood of a large city. Her father is the caretaker of a cemetery across the street from her house. Nella has recently traded in her shy, lifelong best friend Angela for a cooler, shinier model, and she's sure her four younger brothers are complete barbarians and that her great-grandmother is impossible to please. All that is about to change. With her Catholic parochial school slated for closure, Nella will be forced into the wider community. A secret revealed about her father's past alters her feelings for him, and then her old friend Angela's brother, Anthony, accidentally shoots and kills an African American man seeking help after a late-night car crash. Nella has always adored Anthony, and the way he is portrayed by the news media enrages her. She is eventually forced to reexamine much of what she believes about her family, friends, neighbors, and God. Fluctuating in time between Nella's earliest school years and her seventh-grade present, this work raises questions about fate, faith, loyalty, and justice. The ghosts of the past—of racial tensions from decades before and consequences of mistakes made years ago—reverberate throughout the novel. Adult and child characters alike are shown as complex and conflicted. Overriding all is the notion that what occurs in a single second can change the course of events. Readers may find the constant swiveling in time to be disorienting, and frequent interruptions for observations by a statue in the cemetery serve little purpose. The focus is squarely on the protagonist and her struggle to understand how race and history play into the tragic events. VERDICT Springstubb admirably takes on a sensitive and difficult contemporary American issue. Sure to spark discussion in classrooms and book clubs.—Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY

School Library Journal

Narrator Arielle DeLisle channels the emotional core of this contemporary coming-of-age story, which explores faith, prejudice, friendship, and family in Little Italy. In the course of a few weeks, the comfortable patterns of 12-year-old Nella Sabatini's life are forever disrupted after she discovers something disturbing about her beloved father, finds out her Catholic school will be closing, and learns that a family friend mistakenly killed a young black man. Using a clipped, bright delivery to start, DeLisle highlights Nella's outwardly breezy personality; later she slows down and softens her voice to signal the young teen's troubled thoughts as she tries to make sense of the world around her. Despite the sometimes too quick pace, DeLisle's expressive performance is sure to engage young listeners. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

★ 2016-03-16
Nella's worldview widens amid a tangle of emotions in this coming-of-age exploration of time and change. Like her blue-collar Little Italy neighborhood, the white girl's life is changing. And the changes feel as difficult to navigate as the dilapidated stroller she often maneuvers through the neighborhood with one of her four younger brothers, affectionately referred to as "brutish barbarians," aboard. Her Catholic school is closing, and the largely black public school scares her. She uncovers a secret about her father's past that shakes her view of him. Her science-fiction-loving new best friend, Clem, wants to celebrate the leap second—when a second is added to the clock, and time expands. She is no longer close to her first friend, Angela, whose older brother, Anthony, Nella idolizes. When Anthony mistakenly shoots and kills a black man in a misguided attempt to protect a family, racism tears at the community. One second changes everything, just as her father's youthful crime changed his life. Time is hard to measure; it stumbles, expands, and even stands still. The past can bump right into the present. Nella learns the importance of kindness and empathy, of not judging people without knowing them—and that every second matters. With an engaging protagonist, a fast-moving story, important themes subtly conveyed, and touches of humor, this is a richly layered story that will have wide appeal. (Fiction. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews