Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780316040631 |
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| Publisher: | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
| Publication date: | 03/01/2009 |
| Sold by: | Hachette Digital, Inc. |
| Format: | NOOK Book |
| File size: | 496 KB |
| Age Range: | 12 - 18 Years |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Everything Is Fine
4 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
10 reviews.
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Everything is Fine is due out in March, 2009. I read an ARC.Everything is Fine is reminiscent of Laurie Halse Anderson's, Speak, in that the reader knows that something terrible has happened, but must suffer the pain of the protagonist as she comes to terms with the truth. The protagonist in this case is the adolescent Mazzy. In stark, first person, stream of consciousness chapters, Mazzy details her life at home alone with a severely depressed mother and an absent father, "FOODWhen Dad found out he had to stay away longer than he thought, he found someone to bring us food.She sometimes forgets. Her name is Lisa and she smells like hair spray.She's Bill's friend who needed some extra cash.She's supposed to come every week but sometimes she forgets. I feed Mom what's in the kitchen even though all she really wants is sorbet and Diet Coke.Once I put SpaghetttiOs in the blender and gave it to her like a shake.She threw it up."If I had not just finished reading Waiting for Normal, perhaps I might have liked this book better. Waiting for Normal tells a similar, albeit less tragic story. Both books have a young female protagonist, an absent father figure, and a sickly, overweight, kindly, and helpful neighbor. Waiting for Normal is more hopeful, though - perhaps because depression is not its main focus. I'm sure it's difficult to write a hopeful book that deals with depression. Ellis has done a great job in trying, but this was not one of my personal favorites, although it is certainly well written. Everything is Fine should appeal to teen fans of contemporary realistic fiction.
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Everything Is Fine is told in verses which creates a quick and interesting read. It reminded me a bad performance, hard to keep your eyes away but leaves an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach. Or the tryouts for American Idol. You just can¿t help but feel embarrass for the person but the urge to change the channel is non existence. That was how I felt about Everything Is Fine. It¿s awkward, and disjointed, but it¿s undeniably hard to put down. Mazzy was an on and off character for me. Sometimes I can relate to her feelings, and sometimes I feel that she needs to grow up. It was hard for me to pinpoint her exact age¿she stuffed oranges down her shirt and yet she wears lacy underwear. Her relationship with her mother is where you can understand her depth. The way she is actually the one taking care of her mother instead of the other way around, the most simple of actions forces her to hate her mother. Maybe it¿s the way that she [the mother:] used to act before she fell into depression that causes her to hate her. Or maybe it goes deeper than that as we read the ending. The ending I felt was satisfactory. In the middle of the story, the author mentions Olivia. I spent a good amount of time trying to remember who she was which might have worked in the author¿s favor¿trying to keep the readers on their toes. As the story progresses, the small bits of missing information begins to fill until we understand the actual reasoning behind everything. There are also captions after every poem, like for example ¿Pencil on paper¿. And underneath that, there will be a picture. I was not too sure the exact meaning behind each one, sometimes I did, sometimes it drew a blank stare, but I thought it was creative. Overall: Mazzy was an odd character but she was interesting to read to say the least. Everything is Fine was a fun and quick read that is a library borrow if you enjoy verse novels.
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Mazzy is quite the colorful character. She is doing her best to care for her mother who is in the throes of severe depression. I love the fact that we aren't slammed with the tragedy that plagues this family right in the beginning. We meet the various characters through Mazzy. The devastating effects that tragedy can have on the family is evident within the pages of Everything Is Fine. Mazzy is doing her best to convince everyone around her and even herself that everything is indeed fine. This is another lovely book of verse. I loved that Mazzy started using art as an outlet for her feelings as well. I'm giving this one 3 1/2 sweet kisses!
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Mazzy is way too young to be taking care of her mother. But that¿s what she¿s doing ever since her father left to work for ESPN. He came home for a short visit but left again and they hardly ever talk. But things aren¿t going all that well. Her mother pretty much stays in bed all day, non-communicative.Mazzy¿s neighbors try. Like the obese Norma who lives across the street. Mazzy helps her pick weeks from her lawn.Mazzy thinks her neighbor, Colby, likes her, but like all teenage boys, he ignores her for the most part. His mother wants to help but doesn¿t know how.So, Mazzy is left to care for her mother, bring her her pills and sorbet, talk to her, bath her (although that stopped when Bill, a male nurse, started coming over).Everything was fine until the social worker appeared on the scene and said things must change. Mazzy texted her dad with the word ¿government¿ which prompted a phone call and a return visit.Everything is Fine, a novel in verse, is poignant. Mazzy is struggling with growing up and caring for her mother, remembering both the good times and the incident that caused her mother¿s depression. She feels it is her responsibility to shoulder the burden and readers will share her burden and her pain. They¿ll also identify with Mazzy¿s friendship with Norma, as well as her crush on Colby, both of which she denies. Mazzy¿s mother is an artist and the book contains Mazzy¿s attempts at artwork. Ellis has written a winner. Try it.
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Mazzy has more responsibility than most people her age. She has a severely depressed mother that barely moves and a father more concerned with his career than with what is going on at home. Her only companionship comes from her neighbors, but friendships are hard to maintain because of her strange and off-putting behaviors. The only outlet Mazzy has is art. Her mother¿s abandoned art supplies provide her with a way to express her true feelings when everywhere else she has to hide what is really happening in her life. Readers witness the family¿s struggles through Mazzy¿s eyes and the reason for their downhill spiral becomes clear as the story unfolds. The author has written a short novel about a serious subject and your heart will go out to Mazzy.The author could have developed Mazzy¿s artistic nature a bit more. It just seemed to be scattered here and there throughout the book and we never see her process of creating - just the product; however, this doesn¿t take away from the story. With only 154 pages of scarce text this is a book you can fit in anytime.
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This is a quick read that should have great appeal to teens. Mazzy is 13 and on her own. She has to care for her mother who rarely gets out of bed. Her father has left for a great new job and wants to believe that everything is fine. Mazzy tells herself and everyone who asks that "Everything is fine." Of course it isn't and overshadowing that is terrible thing that happened that caused Mazzy's life to fall apart.
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Mazzy's mother won't get out of bed. Her father is away on business, and Mazzy is trying to convince everyone around her that everything is fine. We slowly find out what happened to cause everyone' unhappiness and disrupted the family
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Best book in the whole dang world.
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Mazzy's family has fallen apart. A tragedy almost too horrible to imagine has broken down communication and left the remaining family members drifting in different directions.
Mazzy's father left on a business trip months ago and never returned. He tries to communicate by phone, but Mazzy can't seem to form the words that need to be said, so most of the time when he calls she hangs up.
Mazzy's mother is gone in a different sense. She stays in her room and in her bed, not moving or saying a word. Her body is there, but her mind has gone to a place not even Mazzy can reach.
When outsiders like Norma, the neighbor, or Mazzy's best friend, Colby, ask how things are going, Mazzy's response is always the same: "Everything is fine." But nosy Mrs. Peet, the government lady, knows things are anything but fine. She threatens to intervene, but it will take more than a social worker to fix what's wrong with Mazzy's family.
Ann Dee Ellis takes readers inside the mind of a young girl to tell the story of a family crisis. She uses prose only a hair away from being verse, and it is the perfect choice to illustrate Mazzy's tenuous grasp on reality and life at the moment.
I found myself captivated by her desire to create a peaceful world for herself and her mother by avoiding the truth. Despite the tragic tone set right from the beginning, the character of Mazzy radiates a hope and determination that amazed me.
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