Every Little Thing in the World (review)

A positive pregnancy test marks a crossroads in the life of sixteen-year-old Sydney, but before she even gets a chance to confess to her mother, her other offenses cause her to be shipped off for a month-long canoe trip in the Canadian wilderness in hopes that the experience will straighten her out. Sydney figures that's just a small blip in her plans that still gives her time for a first-trimester abortion upon her return, if she can amass the money, but the journey becomes much more than a simple diversion. Accompanied by her best friend, Natalia, who's discovered her own recent family secret (Natalia herself was the child of a teen pregnancy, born to the woman she'd been raised to consider her sister), Sydney begins to shed her old self and find a new Sydney—who still faces the same dilemma as the old. de Gramont's prose glides along with superb fluidity, while Sydney's narration offers both sharp perception and authentic limitation. The characters are believably restricted by Sydney's view (a fact she herself realizes when considering the boy who got her pregnant), but they have depth and originality, and the growing formation of the motley crew of canoeists into a kind of tribe is subtle but believable. Particularly interesting is Sydney's changing relationship with Mick, the youthful offender who's taking the trip as a form of rehab: Mick is frightening and obnoxious, yet capable of genuine support for Sydney, and, whether she likes it or not, he matters to her. The situation also provides a believable opportunity for exploration of the various futures that lie before Sydney depending on the choice she makes, and her path is genuinely uncertain for much of the book. Sydney's situation is one that looms over many readers, and they'll both be moved by her experience and enlightened by her reflections as she struggles to make a decision.