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All the Sunshine in the World
In this riveting novel in verse, thirteen-year-old Tolly fears she was to blame for the accident that killed her older sister. If she could just get her phone back, she might find answers about the day Sunny died…
It’s been almost six months since Tolly’s sister died in a distracted driving wreck.
Tolly misses Sunny every minute of every day, but is it wrong to want a semi-normal birthday? What about a new phone, to replace the one she lost soon after the accident? Instead, she gets grieving parents and a disappointing, misspelled cake.
And so Tolly is stuck starting 8th grade without a phone in hand, without answers to the endless questions she has about her sister’s death. Why did it happen… How did it happen… Was it Tolly’s fault? She just needs her old phone back to uncover the truth.
Ironically, thanks to being phone-less, Tolly gets put in charge of a new Luddite club at school, for kids who want to avoid technology. It’s the last place she expected to find herself, but it turns out to be a powerful escape from the unrelenting guilt she feels over Sunny’s death—and it might just be the place for her to get those answers, too.
Acclaimed poet Caroline Brooks DuBois brings one family’s healing into the light in a compelling novel in verse that speaks to this generation’s messy feelings about technology, as well as the timeless complications of being a teenager.
It’s been almost six months since Tolly’s sister died in a distracted driving wreck.
Tolly misses Sunny every minute of every day, but is it wrong to want a semi-normal birthday? What about a new phone, to replace the one she lost soon after the accident? Instead, she gets grieving parents and a disappointing, misspelled cake.
And so Tolly is stuck starting 8th grade without a phone in hand, without answers to the endless questions she has about her sister’s death. Why did it happen… How did it happen… Was it Tolly’s fault? She just needs her old phone back to uncover the truth.
Ironically, thanks to being phone-less, Tolly gets put in charge of a new Luddite club at school, for kids who want to avoid technology. It’s the last place she expected to find herself, but it turns out to be a powerful escape from the unrelenting guilt she feels over Sunny’s death—and it might just be the place for her to get those answers, too.
Acclaimed poet Caroline Brooks DuBois brings one family’s healing into the light in a compelling novel in verse that speaks to this generation’s messy feelings about technology, as well as the timeless complications of being a teenager.
- GenresMiddle Grade
368 pages, Hardcover
Published July 28, 2026
About the author
Caroline Brooks DuBois
3 books77 followersCaroline Brooks DuBois received a Master of Fine Arts in poetry at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. DuBois writes both poetry and prose and a mixture of the two. She was recognized as a Blue Ribbon Teacher for her dedication to her students and excellence in teaching adolescents. Currently, DuBois is the Director of the Literary Arts Conservatory at Nashville School of the Arts High School in Nashville, Tennessee. She lives with her singer-song writer husband, with whom she’s co-written songs, and their two children and dog.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
“Grief is not a word
I understood before last year.
I read about it in books,
took a practice go of it with characters…
I knew how to spell it…
I could use it in a sentence…
But I didn’t know how it applied
to me and my family and daily life,
or what it meant to feel it,
or how it runs deep like a bone bruise,
like hunger or thirst or defeat.” (ARC 346)
When Tolly’s sister dies in an automobile accident, Tolly feels that she just might have caused the accident with her endless texting Sunny to pick her up from school. Six months later she has lost her phone, found her sister’s to try to discover more about the accident but can’t guess the password, and her parents are drowning in grief. No more family dinners, no more family text chains with her dad’s weather jokes and her mother’s reminders. Her mother and father have thrown themselves into their work, almost ignoring her except to give her a pair of hiking boots. But Tolly wasn’t the hiker, the nature lover, the photographer of trees; that was Sunny, so Tolly is even more confused and hurt—and sure they are blaming her for Sunny’s accident.
Meanwhile it’s a new year at school—eighth grade—and her bestie, Willa, is somewhat ignoring her, telling her that she has problems too and that Tolly is a talker, not a listener.
“Please don’t make this about you.
My stuff matters too.…
That’s the problem, Tolly,
You don’t know how to listen.
And only your life matters.” (ARC 105)
Willa now has other friends and has started a club for dancing, the one thing Tolly cannot learn to do.
When her school guidance counselor talks Tolly into being in charge of a “luddite” club, a club for members to put down their phones and meditate and communicate, the club only gets two other members and is combined with Kahil’s Outdoors Club. Through the combined clubs and new friendships with Kahil (KJ), twins Max and Felix, Ash, and Sammie, and a group camping trip with them, Tolly discovers the beauty of nature.
“I can’t look away from the view.
It’s as if I’m part of something
larger—that includes Sunny.” (ARC 222)
However, when Willa decides they are friends again, Tolly is torn between the two groups and the two clubs.
“I am in between—
between wanting
to be inside and to be outside.
Between two friend groups.
Between being a sister and not.
I am in between.” (ARC 272)
But her new love of nature and friends who really care who she is wins out and helps her learn more about her sister.
“Or maybe it’s because Sunny spent
so much time outside, I had
to get outdoors to hear her.
Nature was her language—
and I’m learning to hear it
and to speak it.” (ARC 286)
And Tolly becomes not just a fan but an advocate for the natural environment, helping to organize protests again the proposed school parking lot that would destroy the woods surrounding the school.
“For the first time, I get
why KJ loves these woods—
scraggly trees, weeds, and all—
how Sunny would have loved them,
and I think I love them too.” (ARC 331)
Caroline Brooks DuBois’ newest novel conveys important messages for adolescents on loss, grief, guilt, family, friendships, the negative and distracting power of technology (and social media) and, most of all, the healing nature of, well, nature.
I understood before last year.
I read about it in books,
took a practice go of it with characters…
I knew how to spell it…
I could use it in a sentence…
But I didn’t know how it applied
to me and my family and daily life,
or what it meant to feel it,
or how it runs deep like a bone bruise,
like hunger or thirst or defeat.” (ARC 346)
When Tolly’s sister dies in an automobile accident, Tolly feels that she just might have caused the accident with her endless texting Sunny to pick her up from school. Six months later she has lost her phone, found her sister’s to try to discover more about the accident but can’t guess the password, and her parents are drowning in grief. No more family dinners, no more family text chains with her dad’s weather jokes and her mother’s reminders. Her mother and father have thrown themselves into their work, almost ignoring her except to give her a pair of hiking boots. But Tolly wasn’t the hiker, the nature lover, the photographer of trees; that was Sunny, so Tolly is even more confused and hurt—and sure they are blaming her for Sunny’s accident.
Meanwhile it’s a new year at school—eighth grade—and her bestie, Willa, is somewhat ignoring her, telling her that she has problems too and that Tolly is a talker, not a listener.
“Please don’t make this about you.
My stuff matters too.…
That’s the problem, Tolly,
You don’t know how to listen.
And only your life matters.” (ARC 105)
Willa now has other friends and has started a club for dancing, the one thing Tolly cannot learn to do.
When her school guidance counselor talks Tolly into being in charge of a “luddite” club, a club for members to put down their phones and meditate and communicate, the club only gets two other members and is combined with Kahil’s Outdoors Club. Through the combined clubs and new friendships with Kahil (KJ), twins Max and Felix, Ash, and Sammie, and a group camping trip with them, Tolly discovers the beauty of nature.
“I can’t look away from the view.
It’s as if I’m part of something
larger—that includes Sunny.” (ARC 222)
However, when Willa decides they are friends again, Tolly is torn between the two groups and the two clubs.
“I am in between—
between wanting
to be inside and to be outside.
Between two friend groups.
Between being a sister and not.
I am in between.” (ARC 272)
But her new love of nature and friends who really care who she is wins out and helps her learn more about her sister.
“Or maybe it’s because Sunny spent
so much time outside, I had
to get outdoors to hear her.
Nature was her language—
and I’m learning to hear it
and to speak it.” (ARC 286)
And Tolly becomes not just a fan but an advocate for the natural environment, helping to organize protests again the proposed school parking lot that would destroy the woods surrounding the school.
“For the first time, I get
why KJ loves these woods—
scraggly trees, weeds, and all—
how Sunny would have loved them,
and I think I love them too.” (ARC 331)
Caroline Brooks DuBois’ newest novel conveys important messages for adolescents on loss, grief, guilt, family, friendships, the negative and distracting power of technology (and social media) and, most of all, the healing nature of, well, nature.
August 10, 2026
All the Sunshine in the World is a beautifully written story about Tolly, who is learning to cope after her big sister died in a car accident on the way to pick her up. She battles with guilt and grief in the aftermath, alongside normal tween issues like frenemies and trying to find her place at school. The book covers some complex emotions, but is written in a way that is easy for the target audience to comprehend and digest.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
In my years as a middle school teacher I spent a lot of time curating a classroom library that I knew would allow me to put the right book in the right hands at the right time. All the Sunshine in the World by Caroline Brooks Dubois is a book that would have found a permanent home in my classroom library.
August 5, 2026
Another stunning, timely and moving novel in verse by Caroline Brooks DuBois. She gently pulls you into the mind of a sweet and vulnerable young girl who is learning to heal after a tragedy. The storytelling is beautifully crafted; a simple joy to read.
August 8, 2026
Loved this!! Heart-wrenching and hopeful portrayal of grief and family relationships, alongside relatable middle school challenges. Great character voice and lyrical writing! Really kept me reading to find out what happened in the past...and what would happen next.
November 20, 2025
"We got stranded in our own lakes of grief, preventing us from swimming out of the deep, from pulling our heads above the water and lifting our chins into the sun."
-All the Sunshine in the World
-All the Sunshine in the World
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I feel lucky to have an ARC from the publisher to review this book for School Library Journal.
An excellent novel in verse exploring grief, relationships, and nature.
A beautiful story.
An excellent novel in verse exploring grief, relationships, and nature.
A beautiful story.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews