Everything

Ron Currie Jr.’s Everything Matters! was by far my favorite book of the year. Just ask anyway not in AP English 12, because I have most likely demanded that they read it. Really, I could not say enough positive things about this book and Currie’s writing. For me, this book encapsulated everything I love in a story. There was love and there was heartbreak, there was drama and there was humor. Although the book is really science fiction, Currie makes everything so realistic and the characters very relatable. In addition, I find Currie’s message refreshing and inspiring. Currie recognizes that not everything in life is good, and that is good. He encourages you to “welcome Everything, the good and the bad alike” (292). In the story, Junior spends too much time stressing over everything, much like us. As Ms. Serensky frequently reminds us, we tend to “over exaggerate” our work load and almost ask for “pity.” But everything we go through only makes us who we truly are. Like Junior and his choice for the alternate universe, we “chose…to risk suffering” and because of that we grow as people (292). Currie takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster throughout the story, often times leaving you angry and frustrated with the outcome. But that’s life; you never know how your choice will affect something. Currie advises that “the key [is] to relinquish control” (299). This advice has stuck with me since reading the book. I find that I often stress over things that I cannot control. However, as Currie proves, that will not lead to happiness in the end. This book has made me appreciate the good and the bad, the small things and the large things in life and provided me with laughs along the way.