Young Adult Annotation: Now is Everything

Title: Now Is Everything

Author: Amy Giles

Genre: YA Realistic fiction

Publication Date: 2017

Number of Pages: 357

Geographical Setting: New York State

Time Period: Present day

Plot Summary: Hadley family looks perfect from the outside but they are hiding a deep secret. She is the sole survivor of a plane crash that she does not think she should have survived. At 17 Hadley is forbidden to date but meet Charlie and starts a secret relationship. Hadley’s father, referred to by her friend as the drill sergeant, is very strict with her mom, her younger sister Lila but most of all on Hadley. She has to get up at 4:30 am every morning to go running with her father who constantly tells her she is not good enough. If she steps out of line at all her father beats her and does the same to her mother. The only one who is spared the beating is Lila because Hadley covers for her. Hadley best friend’s Meaghan and Noah don’t know that it is as bad for Hadley at home as it is. She tries to keep anyone from knowing and does a good job of this until one day Charlie see her bruises on her hip. He tries to get her to tell someone but she doesn’t believe anyone can help. Will Hadley be able to help get her family out from under her father rule before it is too late for her sister?

Subject Headings:

·         Abusive men

·         Child abuse

·         Family secrets

·         Seventeen-year-old girls

·         Survival (after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, etc.)

·         Teenage abuse victims

·         Teenage boy/girl relations

·         Teenage romance

Appeal:

·         Character: Authentic; Well-developed

·         Writing Style: Thoughtful

Elements of YA Fiction:

Audience: Geared toward teens between 13-19 years old. Reflects situations that teens can relate to.

Realistic fiction deals with events that could happen in a teen’s life. Situations usually deal with relations with boys/girls, family, and teachers. Talks about things that teen will do once leaving high school.

Elements are the same as the adult book in the same genre with the exception that the main character in the book is between the ages of 13-19.

Similar Authors and Works:

Nonfiction Works:

Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story by Jewel: This book is about Jewel struggles with abuse at the hands of unconventional and highly creative family members before rising fame and becoming a parent. This book shares the subject heading of child abuse.*

The Truth Book: Escaping a Childhood of Abuse Among Jehovah’s Witnesses: a Memoir by Joy Castro: This book shares the account of a woman who was psychologically and sexually abused along with her mother and younger brother by her revered Jehovah’s Witness stepfather, whose behavior was unquestioned by their congregation. This book shares the subject heading of child abuse.

A Child Called “It”: One Child’s Courage to Survive by David Pelzer: This is a book about David as a young boy being abused by his alcoholic mother. This book shares the subject heading child abuse victim.

Fiction Works:

If I Stay by Gayle Forman: is about a girl who is in a coma after her family has been in a car wreck. The rest of her family has died in the wreck and she is trying to decide if she wants to live without her mother and father. This book is similar because it talks about how 17-year-old Mia has to live without her parents after a horrible crash.

You Don’t Know Me by David Klass: This book is about a 14-year-old who creates an alternate reality in his mind to try and deal with his mother’s abusive boyfriend. This book is a realistic fiction and has the subject teenage abuse victims. 

A List of Cages by Robin Roe: This book is about a student who struggles with ADHD and has to track down a troubled freshman he discovers is the foster brother he has not seen in five years. This book is a realistic fiction and has the subject teenage abuse victims.