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A follow-up to Polonsky's 2023 World Made of Glass, Every Story Ever Told follows Stevie, Iris' middle school-aged daughter. When a tragic shooting occurs at a local festival and Stevie's mom is injured, it feels like her world is spinning out of control. While waiting to be able to visit the hospital, Stevie learns more about her mom's experiences getting involved in activism, the Holocaust, and her own trauma. A moving look at grief, trauma, and moving forward after terrible things, Every Story Ever Told is an important part of the gun violence canon as well as an excellent book in it's own right.

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A follow up novel to the amazing World Made of Glass, Every Story Ever Told focuses on Stevie, the daughter of the previous book's protagonist. Following a mass shooting event in their hometown that injures her mother and kills five others, Stevie, a witness to both the attack and her mother's injuries, struggles to cope with PTSD and her own misplaced feelings about guilt and responsibility for her mother's injuries. Aided by her best friend, a trans boy named Avi, an ESA dog named Raisin, her holocaust-survivor neighbor, and the notebooks of poems written back and forth between her mother and her long since passed grandfather (the subject of World Made of Glass), Stevie learns to begin to cope in the first few days after the attack. The story is emotional, intense, raw, and beautiful. A wonderful follow up to the astonishing World Made of Glass, my only objection is that poor Iris (Stevie's mother) really needs to catch a break. Familiarity with the first book is not strictly necessary, but helpful, and certainly leads to a deeper and more emotionally resonant reading. Bring all the tissues in your house, you will sob throughout.

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I had an admittedly hard time getting into this book, not realizing that it is a sequel. The story deals with a lot of difficult topics, antisemitism and the AIDS crisis and mass shootings, but the writing was so sparse and simple I just didn't feel a connection to Stevie. Maybe if I read the first book, I would have liked it better.

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4 stars

Polonsky takes such a unique approach with this sequel to _A World Made of Glass_. While readers will recognize characters and understand that social justice is a near genetic trait in this family if they read the first novel in the series, this also works as an effective standalone.

Stevie Jane's mom, the m.c. of the first novel, is now grown and has a family of her own, including a partner and a daughter, Stevie Jane. Stevie Jane inherits the m.c. role this time, and she makes for a compelling follow overall.

Right when the novel begins, the family attends a community function at which there is a mass shooting. Why? Because they live in modern day America, and this is a hellscape. The bulk of the novel - of course - focuses on how all of the characters, those who were physically injured, those who were present but did not face bodily harm, and those who face different kinds of trauma whether they were present or not, manage the aftermath of this horrific event.

Polonsky clearly identifies for readers in advance where the in text the shooting takes place and where its ripples will be felt. Along with this traumatic event, there are also conversations hearkening back to the motifs of the first novel. There is also a lot of talk about antisemitism and even a character speaking from direct experience as a Holocaust survivor. While the topics are handled in an age-appropriate manner, they are heavy, and readers should know that upon entry.

I really enjoy this writer, and this most recent effort is no exception. Polonsky will continue to be in my queue with every subsequent book, and I look forward to recommending this timely novel to students.

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It was a good book. The story follows a young girl who went through a trauma and how she comes back from it the best she can. She has the help of family and friends by her side. It shows there are always what ifs in every situation and you have no control over it. I enjoyed it very much.

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In the sequel to World Made of Glass, Iris has a family with a daughter, Stevie-Jane. When there’s a shooting and Stevie’s mom is affected, Stevie spends time with a friend trying to find ways to calm down and to not feel guilt after what happened to her mom. After seeing things her mom did in the past, Stevie feels differently now after knowing more about her mom’s past and realizes why they are important to her mom. Great book about gun violence, connections, support, and friendship.

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Satisfying sequel to “A World Made of Glass.” Young Iris of the first novel is now grown up, with a husband and daughter of her own. The daughter, Stevie-Jane, experiences PTSD from a very traumatic event. With help from friends, and stories from their and her own
family’s pasts, Stevie slowly begins to accept and live in the “new normal”.

*I received a digital copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

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