Everything, Everything

With her 2015 debut, Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon became the first Black woman to hit No. 1 on the New York Times’ young adult best-seller list. It’s a tender love story between Maddy, a biracial Black and Japanese girl who cannot leave her house due to severe combined immunodeficiency, and Olly, the boy who moves in next door. Their relationship, which begins through flirtatious instant messages, blossoms into a real connection. The two share an intense desire for freedom: Olly’s father is abusive and Maddy yearns to leave her house. In her beautiful first book, which was made into a 2017 film starring Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson, Yoon reveals an engaging, sensitive style in showcasing the beauty of teenage passion, the scars of grief and the wonder that can be found in the little things that surround us all. —Peter Allen Clark

Buy Now: Everything, Everything on Bookshop | Amazon

Contact us at letters@time.com.