Book Review: The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett

I’m not going to make a habit of reviewing middle grade fiction but I’ll admit to being convinced into reading The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett by a very persuasive pitch from a publicist at HarperCollins Canada. She said it was fantastic, and she was right (give this woman a raise!). Plus Everett is based out of Edmonton, and I love lifting up Alberta writers whenever possible. Even though this book is meant for kids aged 8-12, I devoured it in just a few days, and I think many adult readers will feel the same way. I’ll likely keep it for a year or two before I give it to my daughter to read because I don’t think she’s quite ready for it yet, but its bestseller and award-winning status is all well deserved.

Plot Summary

Kemi is an 11 year old girl who loves science, facts, determining probabilities, and most of all, her family. Her mother is pregnant with her third child, and Kemi gets along well with her younger sister, Lo. They are sitting around eating pancakes on a normal Sunday morning when a breaking news report flashes across their television screen: an asteroid is hurtling towards earth and is expected to make impact in four days. Quickly Kemi and her sister are hustled out of their house, only packing a bag with a few days worth of clothes, and sent to stay with their Aunt Miriam. There they are surrounded by cousins, hurried preparation for the big day, and a strange sense of calm. To help ease her anxiety, Kemi sets herself a task; build a time capsule with items that everyone in her family chooses so the next planet’s inhabitants will have a record of Kemi’s family and their interests. The book chapters count down to the end of the world, remaining within Kemi’s first person perspective only, and about two thirds of the way through, a major twist is revealed. I was totally shocked by this plot development, and many readers will likely want to return to the beginning to look for clues of it, so I won’t say anymore and keep it a surprise for those who are considering reading it (and you should!).

My Thoughts

This is a really challenging review to write because of this twist, it’s such a massive shift in how you will read and understand this book. Before it occurs, I had some ideas and criticisms that I was prepared to write about, but then I realized it was all leading up to this moment in the narrative. There are small details that might suggest to readers that something major is going to happen, but when dealing with the ‘end of days’ scenario, it feels as though anything can happen. I couldn’t help but compare it to the movie Don’t Look Up starring Jennifer Lawrence (also about an asteroid about to hit earth) because the tone of that movie feels so different from this, but I had to remind myself that this book is written from the perspective of an 11-year-old. If the world was set to end in four days, would a child be fully aware of all the turmoil happening around her? Or would focusing on a time capsule be the only coping mechanism that would make sense? Don’t Look Up included lots of humour, but for the record, there isn’t much humour in The Probability of Everything.

I was recommending this book to another adult (I didn’t reveal the twist to them either) and they asked me if it deals with anxiety in youth. Worry is touched upon as Kemi often admits to feeling a pit in her stomach when she imagines the asteroid obliterating everything, but grief is really the focus of Kemi’s character arc, as is race and prejudice (Kemi and her family are black). Her ability to focus on a project rather than spiraling into panic offers hope to herself and her family around her, framing the time capsule as a new beginning for the people who find it, rather then the end of her life:

” ‘I’m making a time capsule,’ I admitted. ‘If I save all the most important stuff, the things we love the most, then nobody has to feel so sad about the end of the world.’ “

-p. 82 of The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett, ARC edition

Her grief is the driver behind her action, but as the book progresses, we learn more about Kemi’s grief and how it has affected her. This nuanced look at a complicated emotion like grief is what makes this book so appealing to adults because I think we recognize how valuable this is for kids to explore. Luckily it’s a quick-moving plot that will also appeal to kids, so it won’t be something we have to ‘prescribe’ to youngsters, they’ll want to pick it up regardless of an adult recommendation.