Every Body Looking

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • This “lyrical, insightful, and searing” (Teen Vogue) novel-in-verse follows an eldest daughter on her journey as she bears the weight of others’ expectations and finds the courage to shape a life of her own.

“This blazing coming-of-age comet will have everybody looking up.”—The New York Times

“A story about the sometimes toxic and heavy expectations set on the backs of first-generation children, the pressures woven into the family dynamic, culturally and socially.”—Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestselling author of Long Way Down

“Ada” means first daughter, means oldest girl, means pressure. “Ada” means you are expected to do a lot of things because the honor of this family rests on your back.

When Ada leaves home for her freshman year at a Historically Black College, it’s the first time she’s ever been so far from her family—and the first time that she’s been able to make her own choices and to seek her place in this new world. As she stumbles deeper into the world of dance and explores her sexuality, she also begins to wrestle with her past—her mother’s struggle with addiction, her Nigerian father’s attempts to make a home for her. Ultimately, Ada discovers she needs to brush off the destiny others have chosen for her and claim full ownership of her body and her future.

MICHAEL L. PRINTZ AWARD HONOREE