The Girl from Everywhere

Name: The Girl from Everywhere
Item: The Girl from Everywhere
Rating: 4
Author: Michael Berry

Book review by

Michael Berry, Common Sense Media

The Girl from Everywhere Book Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 14+

(i)

Romantic adventure features time-traveling pirates.

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age 14+

Based on 1 review

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A lot or a little?

The parents' guide to what's in this book.

Educational Value

Does an exemplary job of setting its scenes in the Hawaii of the 1860s, both in its attention to historical detail and its use of island folklore.

Positive Messages

Sometimes it's better not to know the future. Becoming obsessed with the past can lead to tragedy.

Positive Role Models & Representations

Nixie prides herself on her independence, but she also feels responsible for the welfare of her crewmates aboard the Temptation. Like everyone else aboard the ship, she makes a living through thievery, but she tries not to hurt the weak, only the corrupt and powerful.

Violence

Until the climactic showdown, features few scenes of violence. Two characters are shot but not mortally wounded.

Sex

Mostly just flirting. Nixie share a couple of passionate kisses with one boy. She spends one night cuddled with a boy she likes. It's implied that a minor supporting character has affairs with numerous men.

Language

About a dozen uses each of "hell" and "damn," plus one or two exclamations of "Christ" and "Jesus."

Consumerism

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Nixie's father is an opium addict, and her mother used to work in an opium den. At a house party, adults drink alcohol and smoke cigars.

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that The Girl from Everywhere is a fantasy adventure set mostly in Hawaii during the mid-1800s and features teens involved in criminal activities (pirating and other robberies). Sexual content is mostly limited to flirting and cuddling while sleeping. Strong language is limited a half dozen instances each of "damn" and "hell," with one or two exclamations of "Jesus" and "Christ." Nixie's father is addicted to opium, and Nixie strikes a bargain with a drug dealer.

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Kid, 9 years old December 31, 2017

age 14+

Fast-Paced Mythological Adventure Will Thrill Readers

Heidi Heilig is an author to watch for! This book does include mild teenage romance and the thefts that several characters pulled off and get away with, and par... Continue reading

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What's the story?

Sixteen-year-old Nixie loves many of the aspects of life aboard her father's ship, the Temptation, especially since he can, with the right map, navigate to wide-ranging mythological lands and historical time periods. Nixie, however, worries that he's too obsessed with being reunited with his true love, Nixie's mother, who died in Hawaii in the mid-1800s. She fears that the Captain, an opium addict, is willing to gamble with the paradoxes that might cause her to wink out of existence. She wants to set out on her own before that happens, but her father embroils her in a desperate plan to steal a fortune in gold.

Is it any good?

Thanks to its unusual setting, Hawaii in the 1860s, and its mix of the mythical and the historic, this romantic adventure succeeds in spinning a complicated tale of time travel and family conflict. THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE features a compelling main character eager to set off on adventure, yet bound by the obligations she feels to her family and fellow crewmates. Nixie's relationship with the charming young thief Kashmir is particularly well-handled, as are her mixed feelings for her dangerously obsessed father. Author Heidi Heilig keeps the narrative pace brisk, the stakes high, and the repartee witty.

Talk to your kids about ...

Families can talk about why time-travel stories are so popular in a variety of media. How does the possibility of time travel relate to questions of predestination and free will?
If you could go back in time, would you worry that you might change the future by doing so? Which aspects of the future would you want to protect?
Is it ever justified to make your living by stealing from others?