Erik Vs. Everything by Christina Uss

Erik, who fears Everything, learns to live up to his Viking heritage with the help of his Norse-struck family.

Erik Vs. Everything by Christina Uss. HMH, 2021, 275 pages

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10

Recommended for: ages 10-14

Everyone in Erik Sheepflattener’s family has a rune tattooed on the inner forearm representative of a personal motto. His father’s is PRIDE, Mother’s is FAMILY, sisters Brunhilde and Allyson have CONQUER and WIN, respectively. At age 9, Erik hasn’t decided on a tattoo, but he suspects his would be on the lines of AVOID STUFF. Or, to cut down on the painful needlework, simply NO. If he’s not anxious about something, he’s downright scared of it. His favorite place is under the bed, and challenges are to be avoided at all costs. But he can’t avoid the challenge of flying to Minnesota with his sister Brunhilde (who’s more Viking than the original Vikings) in order to help their Aunt Hilda with her six-month-old triplets.

To make it worse, Brunhilde has a mission: to pry Erik out of his anxiety, whatever it takes. She gets some assistance from the local librarian who recommends The Big Book of Fears as a reference. Identifying the enemy is half the battle: Sciurophobia (fear of squirrels), katagelophobia (fear of embarrassment), gerontophobia (fear of old people), et al., here we come!

Once you get past the idea of praying to the old Norse gods, this is as much fun as it sounds. Erik’s fears are almost too overwhelming, but it’s likely the reader will become invested in the steps taken—solely by his sister at first—to overcome them. This mostly involves mountain biking, so there’s sports too. Brunhilde emerges as less a comic character than a loving, very determined advocate whose ideas about helping her brother aren’t entirely cracked. Every chapter begins with a word of wisdom from the Lore (the family Bible): sayings from Sun Zhu to Tolkien, Dune to Julius Caesar, all attributed in the Afterward. That will extend the reader’s cultural knowledge, as well as a lyrical description of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”—be sure to look it up and give it a listen!

Overall Rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 3.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5

Read more about our ratings here.                 

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Review: Christina Uss must like bicycles. We reviewed her Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle here.
• Review: We reviewed a slightly more realistic look at overcoming fear last week: The Thing I’m Most Afraid Of.
• Review: For serious Viking literature, check out our review of The Brotherband Chronicles.

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