Every Body Looking by Candace Iloh

Genre: Fiction, Novel in Verse Targeted Age Group: Ages 12 - 18 Summary: Ada is struggling her freshman of college as it is the first time she's been far away from her family and make decisions on her own. While Ada delves into the world of dance and explores her sexuality, she is also wrestling with her past which includes her mother's struggle with addiction and her Nigerian father's attempt at making a home for her. Why I chose this book: What initially attracted me to this book was the novel in verse format. It is a format I have come to enjoy after reading the works of Jason Reynolds and Elizabeth Acevedo. This book was not only a Printz Honor Book, it was National Book Award Finalist as well. That speaks highly of an author especially when it is their debut novel. Review:

In Every Body Looking we find Ada on a journey of self-discovery as she embarks on her freshman year of college far away from home. Throughout her freshman year we are given glimpses of her past so that we may have more understanding of the character we see before us. I think it was a great choice in picking the setting of college for Ada to finally begin figuring out she is and what it is that she wants and not others. When we are growing up and at home with our family we are heavily under the influence of our family. This makes sense because they are the people who raised us and cared for us. Being away at college allows us to find out who we are embark on the journey towards adulthood and gain new experiences. At college, Ada is no longer under the rule of her Nigerian father. She does not have to deal with his rules, going to church or his voice in her mind telling her what to do and how to be. The distance allows her to have freedom from this voice.

There is a sadness that can be felt throughout the novel between the present day and the glimpses of Ada's past that we're given. It is through the past that we are able to learn of the rocky relationship between Ada and her mother: a daughter just looking for love from her mother, a woman who struggles with addiction. It is through their relationship Iloh shows us how addiction doesn't just affect those struggling, it affects the family as well. It is the family coming to terms with the fact that they have no lost that member to addiction no matter how many times the person walks back into their life. The sadness felt through the book stems from the search of looking for love and acceptance from others (her mother, the boy she meets at college, her classmates growing up).

Ada is a character that teen readers and those who are experiencing their first years of college will be able to relate to. The novel in verse format enhances the story. The novel in verse format to me is one that is one that is free from the expectations of prose. And it is within this story that Ada begins to find her freedom from the expectations and pressure of others.

I read this novel in the e-book format through the Libby by Overdrive app. I did not find any issues reading it within this format but I would like to read it in the print format as well as I know that they can differ in terms of structure and pages.

Iloh, C. (2020). Every Body Looking. Penguin Young Readers Group.