Published: 2022
Author: Pauline David-Sax
Illustrator: Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Books About Books, Childrens, Poetry, Fiction, School, Realistic Fiction, Juvenile, Mental Health
Audience (Grade Levels): Elementary / Pre-K to Grade 3
Number of Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 Stars)
Goodreads Link: Everything in Its Place: A Story of Books and Belonging
Triggers: None (Gentle exploration of social anxiety and peer isolation)
Review By: Mary Beth Cavalieri
Publisher’s Summary:
An inspiring and poetic story about reading, libraries, and overcoming shyness to find community.
I gather the books in my arms, and give them a hug. “Welcome back,” I whisper.
Nicky is a shy girl who feels most at home in the safe space of her school library, but the library closes for a week and Nicky is forced to face her social anxiety. When she meets a group of unique, diverse, inspiring women at her mother’s diner—members of a women’s motorcycle club—Nicky realizes that being different doesn’t have to mean being alone, and that there’s a place for everyone.
Book lovers of all ages will find inspiration in this beautiful love letter to reading—and how words help us find empathy and connections with the world around us.
Review:
The power of this book gave me the chills while I was reading it. I didn’t realize it had won so many awards until after I had read it. As a teacher, I KNOW KIDS LIKE THIS. YOU KNOW KIDS LIKE THIS. And by that I mean—kids who don’t fit into the mainstream groups at recess and they take that to heart.
I simply cannot imagine a more impactful book for a child who is shy or feels like they don’t fit in. This book speaks to not changing yourself, but finding your people. The mantra—Everything in life is a risk—could be the theme of the school year. The illustrations are top-notch as well. There are so very many ways to incorporate this book into the curriculum.
Classroom & Curricular Connections:
- Social Emotional Learning (SEL): A magnificent anchor text for lessons on social anxiety, introversion, and emotional regulation. It validates students who struggle during unstructured times like recess and frames shyness with dignity.
- Language Arts / Thematic Design: Excellent for exploring the concept of central themes and mantras in literature, specifically focusing on how the book’s core quote, “Everything in life is a risk,” serves as a catalyst for character growth.
- Community & Sociology: Offers a beautiful look at counter-stereotypes and subcultures through the inclusion of the women’s motorcycle club, helping children realize that community can be found outside conventional structures.
Extension Activity / Library Application:
- The Classroom Mantra Banner: Highlighting the reviewer’s favorite quote (“Everything in life is a risk”), lead a classroom goal-setting activity. Have students identify a small, positive “risk” they want to take this year (e.g., inviting someone new to play, raising their hand, trying a new book genre). Write these on individual paper bricks or footprints to build a “Risk-Taking Pathway” display.
- “Find Your People” Interest Survey: To help students who feel isolated at recess connect over shared passions, host a library group activity where students design a mini-poster or button representing their unique hobby (e.g., drawing, reading, insects, puzzles). Group students with overlapping interests to help them organically discover their own niche community.
Diversity & Representation:
An Ezra Jack Keats Award Honor Book, this story provides exceptional intersectional equity regarding mental health and female empowerment. Illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow, the visual narrative normalizes diverse, multi-ethnic spaces through the inclusive depiction of a vibrant, unconventional group of women motorcyclists. It powerfully breaks down limiting stereotypes about what a supportive community looks like, proving that intersectional spaces offer deep empathy and validation for neurodiverse or socially anxious children.
Readalikes:
- The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig
- Quiet Wyatt by Tammi Sauer
- The Library by Sarah Stewart
