by Sarah Everett
Clarion Books, 2023. 326 pages.
Review written January 13, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
2024 Mathical Honor Book, Ages 11-13
Kemi is eleven years old, and the world is ending in four days.
Or at least probably. There’s an asteroid heading toward earth, with an 84.7% chance of hitting us.
Kemi loves math and probability — especially the probability puzzles her Dad gives her. But now there’s an asteroid in the sky making everything purple. They have to leave their house in the “better” part of town and stay with her aunt and cousins. Kemi can’t believe her best friend is still going to school.
Kemi thinks about her family, including her new baby sister who won’t be born before the end of the world. She decides to make a time capsule to remember her family and everything they love most. But to find what her father will put in means doing his favorite things together with him.
And I can’t tell you what happens at the end of the book, but it did surprise me how things turned out. I liked the inclusion of the Monty Hall Problem in probability, the concise explanation, and the application that you should always pay attention to new information.
This book is about a girl coping with the end of the world by remembering what she and her family love most.
saraheverettbooks.com
harpercollinschildrens.com
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/probability_of_everything.html
Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.
Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
What did you think of this book?