Book: Every Shiny Thing (2018)
Author: Cordelia Jensen and Laurie Morrison
Genre: MG, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Basic plot: Lauren feels lost when her autistic brother goes away to boarding school. When Lauren’s best friend doesn’t seem to understand, Lauren starts spending more and more time with the new girl, Sierra. Sierra’s a foster kid who just wants to go back with her mom. But she’s drawn to Lauren and soon becomes the only one who knows about Lauren’s little problem: shoplifting. But Lauren isn’t stealing things to be bad. Her plan is to help others. Sierra doesn’t know quite what to do…
WHAT’S COOL…
1) The dual POVs work quite nicely in this book. Lauren’s POV is written in prose, while Sierra’s is written in blank verse. At first it was jarring, but I came to like it.
2) I liked how Lauren (the rich kid) is the one with the sticky fingers, rather than Sierra (the poor kid). I love how Lauren rationalizes everything! And Sierra’s struggle about what to do. I loved how complicated everything was.
3) I enjoyed watching Sierra’s growth in the book. I think I probably liked her more than I liked Lauren (who got on my nerves sometimes). I liked the development with the foster parents: Anne and Carl.
4) Ryan isn’t in the book much, but his presence is felt in the book. He’s the brother who’s away. He’s also the reason why Lauren’s starts her own little Robin Hood campaign.
WHAT’S NOT COOL…
1) So I loved all the restitution at the end, but I almost think Lauren got off a little easier than if it had been Sierra.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My rating is 4 Stars (out of 5) – Enjoyed this story, especially Sierra’s POV.
YOUR TURN…
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Note: I’m posting this for Greg Pattridge’s Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday…
Of Maria Antonia 
This sounds interesting. Shoplifting is often a problem in middle grade and the reasons aren’t usually to be bad, but other reasons as in this book. Thanks for sharing it.
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Yes, this was certainly an interesting approach to this topic.
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This book deals with some important issues, and I appreciate your in-depth review. Thanks for sharing this novel with us for MMGM.
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Thanks. Glad you liked the review!
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What an intriguing plot. I don’t think I’ve seen this subject in any book I’ve reviewed. What a challenge for Sierra. I am curious how it ends, so will bookmark it. Thanks for the interesting post.
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I’ve read books that deal with shoplifting, but not from a main character’s perspective. So, that was definitely a twist. Hope you enjoy it.
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I’ve been wanting to read this. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much. I’ll add it to my growing TBR list.
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Yes, those TBR lists can get quite long, can’t they? So many books!
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I read this recently and really liked it. I hadn’t thought about how Sierra was treated differently than Lauren would have under the same circumstances, but I think you make a good point. Thanks for your thoughts.
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I think I picked out this book because of your recent review! So, thank-you for bringing it to my attention 🙂
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What an intriguing plot! The characters also sound like they are crafted well. I’ve put this one on my summer reading list. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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Greg, your summer reading list just seems to be growing! (So many books!)
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