Empathizing with Junior

           My favorite book of the year, by far, is Everything Matters! due to that fact that we did not complete a Data Sheet on this piece. The end. Just kidding, we wrote three in-class essays on it, so clearly, we did not avoid any work. I always seem to face many major predicaments while completing Data Sheets.  I wasted "precious moments" of Ms. Serensky's life  The conversation: " For the setting do we have to include... like street names?" Ms. Serensky replied "Precious moments of my life are ticking away right now." If we were to complete another Data Sheet for Everything Matters!, I would have inevitably had a question. Due to the typical nature of my questions, I would have wasted more "precious moments" of her life. None of this happened when reading Everything Matters!, which adds to the likability of the novel. Another crucial likability factor is the ability of a reader to sympathize, or better yet empathize with the characters. I found myself empathizing with Junior. Right from the start, we discover the umbilical cord wrapped around fetus Junior's neck: "The umbilical chord draws tighter around your throat"(5). In case you did not know, the umbilical chord was wrapped around my neck as well. Note: this did not at all contribute to the largeness of my head. Due to our similar prenatal situations, I empathized with a fetus right off the bat on page five of the novel. Not often do you find yourself empathizing with a character so soon without more personal information, better yet a fetus. I did. Similarly, I used to "Sit on the kitchen floor...and brood like an unhappy child" as Junior does (37). As a child, we had a three-level shelf in the kitchen next to the window, one of the shelves at the bottom about one inch from the ground. Whenever my sister and I got in trouble or were just looking for something to do, we would go sit on the bottom shelf and laugh, cry, or not laugh and cry. It was the cool hang out spot at the Ross Household until my 6'3 father decided to dance around the kitchen one day and shake the floor until the shelves fell over and broke. Junior and I, we both needed some alone time, though he sat on the floor ...and technically, I sat on a shelf an inch from the floor.Close enough. On a more serious note, the book made me think about my life and my future, which made me a little scared. I fear doing something that I do not enjoy.  I began to realize, just as Junior does, that "It does all matter. All of it"(268).  I feel as if after reading this novel, I have had an epiphany of sorts. I need to do what I enjoy in life, like eating Fig Newtons and watching basketball.And maybe even get a job so that I do not end up living in a cardboard box. Maybe aspire to be on Saturday Night Live one day. Clearly, I related well to this novel. Thank you Ron Currie Jr., for this wonderful piece of literature.