Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Saunders
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Intense, emotional novel about first love, family secrets.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
When ALL THE THINGS WE NEVER KNEW begins, Carli, an 11th-grader and star basketball player, collapses into the arms of Rex, also an 11th-grader and star basketball player. Her health problem is quickly resolved (she needs to have her gall bladder removed). The two teens strike up a romance as intense as their dramatic meeting. Each teen is coping with family problems. Carli's parents are divorcing. Rex's mother died in childbirth and he blames himself. Their distress and feelings of shame over their family situations lead to misunderstandings that threaten both their budding relationship and their promising futures in sports.
Is It Any Good?
This moving, suspenseful book captures that heart-wrenching stage when teens comes to terms with their parents' all-too-human moral failures and face hard choices about their own values. In All the Things We Never Knew, author Liara Tamani captures not only the drama of teen romance, family relationships, and the search for identity but also the raw, intense emotion they bring. The language is accessible to younger readers. However, this book is most suitable for readers with some emotional maturity. Younger and less mature readers may simply not relate to the intensity of emotion in either of the two main plots, a romantic relationship and serious passion for and commitment to playing sports at the high school championship level.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the theme of secrets in All the Thinks We Never Knew. When is it better to keep a secret? When is it better to share your truth?
Have you ever made assumptions about someone's behavior that turned out to be wrong? What happened?
The author lets the two narrators share their perceptions in the moment of the exact same words and actions. How does that influence your experience of the story? Do you have more sympathy for one of the two characters?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Coming of Age
- Topics : Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Friendship
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Greenwillow Books
- Publication date : June 7, 2021
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 13 - 17
- Number of pages : 384
- Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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