EVERYTHING YOU WANT by Barbara Shoup

Don't you love that goose peeking around the corner of the cover? Well, that goose changed the life of an entire family.

Emma, a struggling college freshman, has just completed an experiment in her pyschology class. However, the completion of the experiment means the cremation of Freud, the goose that acted as her loyal experiment subject. When Emma hears of Freud's scheduled death, she takes him home in a borrowed cage. Her parents are not pleased and insist that she release him at a local pond.

It turns out that the annoying goose is about to change their lives. Emma's father uses "golden" (as in golden goose) as inspiration when he purchases a lottery ticket. The ticket wins the family a cool $50 million dollars. Now the question is, does sudden wealth make life better or worse?

There were times in EVERYTHING YOU WANT that made me want to close the book and take a pass on reading it. Considering her lucky circumstances, Emma is an annoying complainer at times. She has always compared herself to a more beautiful and more accomplished older sister, and she constantly views herself as anything but normal. What kept me reading was the fact that Emma began realizing that life is not easy for anyone. Even those she always looked up to and admired, reveal that life is not simple, and finding one's true path is a pretty bumpy ride.

Author Barbara Shoup has created a book that shows teens the complicated side of life and the struggle to find the path to true happiness. As most would reluctantly admit - money helps, but it isn't everything.