Every Single Second

Starred review from April 11, 2016
Springstubb (Moonpenny Island) contemplates the concept of time throughout this wrenching coming-of-age novel, which explores the complex and often painful dynamics among family and friends. In chapters labeled “then” and “now,” the narrative switches between Nella Sabatini’s present, at age 12, and her younger years. When Anthony, the beloved older brother of Nella’s friend Angela, pulls the trigger in a shooting that leaves an African-American man dead, the incident polarizes black and Italian-American communities and raises the ghost of a tragedy from years before (“ ‘Oh no,’ whispered Mom.... ‘Not again’.... The past rushed up and plowed into the present, a terrible collision, a horrible accident”). The temporal theme unfolds through short interludes from a statue’s perspective, Angela’s father’s post-traumatic stress disorder (“It all comes back over him, and it’s like he’s right there again”), and Nella’s friend Clem’s obsession with time. Nella’s growing awareness of endings and beginnings, the meaning of friendship, and the power of choices combine to create an unsettling, compelling, and heartwarming tale. Art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House.

May 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-Nella has grown up in an insular Little Italy neighborhood of a large city. Her father is the caretaker of a cemetery across the street from her house. Nella has recently traded in her shy, lifelong best friend Angela for a cooler, shinier model, and she's sure her four younger brothers are complete barbarians and that her great-grandmother is impossible to please. All that is about to change. With her Catholic parochial school slated for closure, Nella will be forced into the wider community. A secret revealed about her father's past alters her feelings for him, and then her old friend Angela's brother, Anthony, accidentally shoots and kills an African American man seeking help after a late-night car crash. Nella has always adored Anthony, and the way he is portrayed by the news media enrages her. She is eventually forced to reexamine much of what she believes about her family, friends, neighbors, and God. Fluctuating in time between Nella's earliest school years and her seventh-grade present, this work raises questions about fate, faith, loyalty, and justice. The ghosts of the past-of racial tensions from decades before and consequences of mistakes made years ago-reverberate throughout the novel. Adult and child characters alike are shown as complex and conflicted. Overriding all is the notion that what occurs in a single second can change the course of events. Readers may find the constant swiveling in time to be disorienting, and frequent interruptions for observations by a statue in the cemetery serve little purpose. The focus is squarely on the protagonist and her struggle to understand how race and history play into the tragic events.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2016
Nella's worldview widens amid a tangle of emotions in this coming-of-age exploration of time and change. Like her blue-collar Little Italy neighborhood, the white girl's life is changing. And the changes feel as difficult to navigate as the dilapidated stroller she often maneuvers through the neighborhood with one of her four younger brothers, affectionately referred to as "brutish barbarians," aboard. Her Catholic school is closing, and the largely black public school scares her. She uncovers a secret about her father's past that shakes her view of him. Her science-fiction-loving new best friend, Clem, wants to celebrate the leap second--when a second is added to the clock, and time expands. She is no longer close to her first friend, Angela, whose older brother, Anthony, Nella idolizes. When Anthony mistakenly shoots and kills a black man in a misguided attempt to protect a family, racism tears at the community. One second changes everything, just as her father's youthful crime changed his life. Time is hard to measure; it stumbles, expands, and even stands still. The past can bump right into the present. Nella learns the importance of kindness and empathy, of not judging people without knowing them--and that every second matters. With an engaging protagonist, a fast-moving story, important themes subtly conveyed, and touches of humor, this is a richly layered story that will have wide appeal. (Fiction. 10-13)

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May 15, 2016
Grades 5-8 Nella Sabatini has grown up in her town's Little Italy with a father who has a secret, too many younger brothers, and a best friend since kindergarten, Angela. But in Nella's twelfth year, she learns that her dad went to jail for vehicular homicide when he was a teenager; a new girl takes the place of her best friend; and a boy seems to like her. In the most shocking turn of events, Angela's beloved older brother, Anthony, shoots an African American man whom he thought was trying to break into a home. This sets communities against each other and makes Nella thinkand rethinkwhat is important and how much control we have over our own lives. The narrative structure of then and now, with short chapters devoted to the musings of a statue, sometimes intrudes upon the story, but this is rich in complex issues that include caring for the elderly, the problems of friendship, and the role of God in everyday life. Lots of plates here, but Springstubb keeps them spinning to a satisfying end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2016
Springstubb adroitly weaves multiple story lines and themes throughout her nonlinear narrative about a tight-knit Italian American neighborhood. Things are changing around Nella Sabatini: her school, St. Amphibalus, is closing; Invaders (i.e., yuppies, people of color) are moving into the neighborhood; and the people Nella thought she knew best have deep secrets. A complex tale that will have readers pondering, with Nella, life's big questions.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2016
Nella Sabatini's life is largely centered on her tight-knit Italian American family, including her harried mother, her cemetery-groundskeeper father, her four unruly younger brothers, and her crotchety great-grandmother, Nonna. But things are changing around her: her school, St. Amphibalus, is closing due to high costs and low enrollment; college students and other Invaders (i.e., yuppies, professors, and people of color) are moving into the neighborhood; and the people Nella thought she knew best have deeply kept secrets. Nella's friend, Clem, is obsessed with the idea of the upcoming "leap second," and halfway through the book everything does change, tragically, in an instant. This terrible fulcrum of the novel is an event that upends families and brings to light issues of deep-seated racism, violence, post-traumatic stress, accountability, remorse, and regret. Springstubb adroitly weaves multiple story lines and themes throughout her nonlinear narrative, moving back and forth in time ("now"; "then") and occasionally interrupting her omniscient third-person perspective with interstitial commentary from a mournful, stoic cemetery statue ("What the Statue of Jeptha A. Stone Would Say If It Could"). The result is a complex and rich tale, one that will have readers pondering, along with Nella, life's big questions. monica edinger

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)