You Are The Everything

by Karen Rivers

Overview

Can you want something—or someone—so badly that it changes your destiny?

Elyse Schmidt never would have thought so, until it happened to her. When Elyse and her not-so-secret crush, Josh Harris, are the sole survivors of a plane crash, tragedy binds them together. It’s as if their love story is meant to be. Everything is perfect, as perfect as it can be when you’ve literally fallen out of the sky and landed hard on the side of a mountain—until suddenly it isn’t.

When the pieces of Elyse’s life stop fitting together, what’s left?

You Are the Everything is a story about the fates we yearn for, the fates we choose, and the fates that are chosen for us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616208752
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company
Publication date:	10/30/2018
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Karen Rivers’s books have been nominated for a wide range of literary awards and have been published in multiple languages. When she’s not writing, reading, or visiting schools, she can usu­ally be found hiking in the forest that flourishes behind her tiny old house in Victoria, British Columbia, where she lives with her two kids, two dogs, and two birds. Find her online at karenrivers.com and on Twitter: @karenrivers.

Editorial Reviews

09/03/2018
Something goes wrong with the plane taking Californian Elyse Schmidt and her fellow high school band members home from their trip to Paris. Knowing a crash is imminent, Elyse prays that at least she and her crush, Josh Harris, be saved. The two are the only survivors, and the second part of this intriguing novel finds Elyse living an idyllic life with Josh as her boyfriend. To escape the postcrash limelight, the teens and their families move to Wyoming, where Elyse has always felt she belonged, and where she inhabits a dream house and even has a pet horse. But something about Elyse’s new, near-perfect existence rankles. Short-term memory lapses prevent her from remembering what happened days or weeks earlier (she doesn’t remember learning how to ride her horse), and she doesn’t understand why she hasn’t grieved over the loss of her best friend, Kath, who died in the crash, or why all the people she’s recently met seem vaguely familiar. In a novel that challenges concepts of time and reality, Rivers (A Possibility of Whales) examines wish fulfillment and subconscious defenses. Although the story’s pace moves unevenly, Rivers evokes the surreal quality of the world that Elyse sees. Ages 13–up. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Karen Rivers uses the [second person] perspective to brilliant effect. Grounded firmly in the fragile consciousness of its teenage main character, Elyse Schmidt, the haunting, enigmatic narrative works so well that the only circumstance under which you will want to avoid reading it is if you are actually in flight . . . You take this harrowing yet beautiful journey with her. You see the pieces fall into place. Together, you figure it out.”
—The Chicago Tribune

“It’s the powerful, moving, and thought provoking YA read you need this fall.”
—Hello Giggles

“This is good choice for those who enjoyed E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars or books with pieces that only fit together after a surprising ending. Fans of unreliable narrators and twist endings will clamor for this story of romance and survival.”
—School Library Journal, starred review

“Philosophical readers will find much to love here; Rivers picks apart the nuances of friendship and romance, with their attendant loyalties and conflicts . . .  You Are the Everything is an unusual and compelling novel that skillfully plays with narrative perspective.”
—Booklist, starred review

“In a novel that challenges concepts of time and reality, Rivers examines wish fulfillment and subconscious defenses . . . [and] evokes the surreal quality of the world that Elyse sees.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Well-written and emotionally resonant, this is an unusual and poignant story . . . that explores unfulfilled dreams and ideas of what might have been.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“You Are the Everything is such a powerful tale of emotional and physical loss, as well as mental health and relationships. Readers who enjoyed Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, or Everything All at Once by Katrina Leno will love the tragic and twisting tale of Elyse in You Are the Everything.”
—Teenreads
 
"If you're looking for a contemporary romance that's different from any other book you've ever read, this one is for you.”
—Young Adult Books Central
 

From the Publisher

★ 07/01/2018
Gr 9 Up—Elyse is happy to be next to Josh Harris (always known by both his first and last name) on the flight back from a band trip to Paris. Sitting in front of her is Kath, her best friend, but they're not speaking because Kath ditched her for a boy while at the Eiffel Tower. Elyse is working on her graphic novel Me and Josh Harris: A Love Story when suddenly the plane tilts and then crashes. Only Elyse and Josh Harris survive. Picking up after long hospital stays, Elyse and Josh Harris (with their families) have both moved to Wyoming for a fresh start and are in a relationship. She still feels enormous guilt about surviving when Kath did not and continues having conversations with Kath, at times confusing the past with the present. Living with short-term memory loss, Elyse often "wakes up" in the middle of a conversation or event with no memory of what is happening or where she is. She experiences life as though she is viewing it from above, referring to herself as "you" throughout. Despite the distancing tone, the author grounds the story with a protagonist fully aware that she is living through extraordinary circumstances. This is good choice for those who enjoyed E. Lockhart's We Were Liars or books with pieces that only fit together after a surprising ending. VERDICT Fans of unreliable narrators and twist endings will clamor for this story of romance and survival.—Kefira Phillipe, Nichols Middle School, Evanston, IL

School Library Journal

2018-07-17

A teenage girl and the boy she has a crush on appear to be the only survivors of a plane crash and must figure how to cope with tragedy's aftermath.

Elyse Schmidt, a white teen, and her classmates were returning from a band festival in Paris. The trip was not as wonderful as Elyse had hoped it would be. She got sick from wine, didn't perform well, and got into a fight with her best friend, Kath, an African-American girl. On the flight home, she is seated beside her crush, Josh Harris, an African-American boy she draws dreamy comics about. After the cataclysmic plane crash and long recovery period, both Elyse's and Josh's families move from California to Wyoming in an effort to start over and escape the public eye. Gradually, all the things Elyse has ever imagined are coming true, the most important being a relationship with Josh. Before the crash brought them together, Elyse could only speculate what it would be like to have him as her boyfriend; once it occurs, she is truly happy. As the days go on, memories of life before the crash flood her mind, merging with the present until the shocking reveal at the end. This is a complicated story that explores unfulfilled dreams and ideas of what might have been.

Well-written and emotionally resonant, this is an unusual and poignant story. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews