A review by nerfherder86
Every Single Second by Tricia Springstubb

5.0

I loved this story, set in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood, for its warm, real characters, the theme of friendships starting and changing, and the realistic depiction of families from different cultural backgrounds and experiences and the hardships they often endure. It also deals with race relations and issues from today's world, in an age-appropriate way for a middle grade/middle school book. Being set in a somewhat familiar area for me certainly added to the appeal, but you don't have to be from the Cleveland area to enjoy reading about this closeknit neighborhood of Catholic Italian families and their Old World charm. Interspersed between the chapters narrated by the main character are magical-realistic chapters where a statue in a cemetery tells his story, as a longtime observer of the neighborhood, and that was kind of weird at first but once you get used to it, it's really quite sweet the way "he" ties in with the main character. Loved it! My one quibble is that the cartoony little drawings and map of the neighborhood made the book seem like a much younger story than it really was. I thought that the content would be great for 6th graders and even 7th and 8th, but with those little-kid drawings it made it seem like a book for much younger kids. Admittedly, the main character tells her story in flashbacks from first grade and other childhood memories (she is a 12 year old 7th grader for most of the story), which might also make it seem like a younger story. But, when you get into the issues and themes of the book, they're really important for older kids as well as younger kids. So I would have liked to see an edition of this book that was made to look a little "older" to appeal to 6th and 7th graders, not just 3rd or 4th graders. (Although it's a really long book for a 4th grader to tackle, I think) But that's just my opinion, and it doesn't really matter if you are able to get the book into any young reader's hands.