Everything You Want

May 1, 2008
After Emma, a floundering college freshman, wins 50 million dollarsin the lottery, she discovers that despite her newfound ability to buy anything she wants, she still doesnt have, or even know, what she needs. As her whole family tries to adjust to their radically different lifestyle, Emma struggles to balance her strong family ties with her need for independence. What could have been a predictably moralistic tale becomes, thanks to Shoups rich characterizations and Emmas dry wit, a surprisingly moving portrait of a young womans efforts to find and accept herself. More comic relief comes with the colorful yet realistic characters, such as the Harley-riding grandfather and the sweetly clueless roommate. Intriguing cover art (a white goose eyes the reader quizzically) picks up on the origin of the winning lottery numbers: Emmas psychology-experiment goose, named Freud.From the cover to the intricately entwined relationships that drive the story, Shoup delivers clever details that call to mind Joan Bauers humor and humanism.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)