Everything, Everything

This innovative, heartfelt debut novel tells the story of a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world, and has never left her house. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds in archival form via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations and more.

My disease is as rare as it is famous. It’s a form of Severe Combined Immunodefiency, but basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in fifteen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives. New next door neighbors. I look out the window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black – black t-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. I want to learn everything about him, and I do. I learn that he is funny and fierce. I learn that his eyes are Atlantic Ocean-blue and that his vice is stealing silverware. I learn that when I talk to him, my whole world opens up, and I feel myself starting to change–starting to want things. To want out of my bubble. To want everything, everything the world has to offer.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.