Everything, Everything is the young adult novel by Nicola Yoon about Madeline, the teenager who cannot leave the house because if she does, she can get sick and die. That life was okay with her, because she never saw any good reason to leave the house, she had her mother and her nurse with her; her family. That is, until a mysterious boy named Olly moves next door and suddenly peaks her interest. Olly is everything that Madeline can’t have, he’s as big a mystery as the outside world is to her. Slowly everything Madeline thought she knew was thrown into question, and she begins to wonder if the life she is living is really worth it. Everything, Everything was adapted into a feature film which came out May 19.

  Amandla Stenberg, who plays Madeline Whittier, is best known for her role as Rue in The Hunger Games. Be that as it may, Madeline is a very different character than Rue, and Stenberg jumped at the chance to play her. “I think Maddy’s relationship with her mother is something we never get to see. There’s a lot of relentless love and in many ways a lot of things that are somewhat abusive because you learn — I won’t reveal anything — there’s a large twist that you’ll have to learn for yourself when you see the movie,” the actress told NPR.org.  

  However, the actress has been best known for being a teenage activist on social media, using her own to make waves on issues regarding race. Stenberg told NPR, “I’m constantly trying to re-evaluate how best to utilize my voice… And so I think I can be more productive by doing things like Everything, Everything, which is something that a couple of years ago maybe I wouldn’t have done. But now I can see the power in — I like to use the word — infiltration. Infiltrating these larger corporations that would traditionally put out media that would just feature white people.”

  Despite her view of activism, Stenberg promises that the movie, isn’t necessarily focused on race, but comes as a welcomed step in the right direction for activists like herself.

  “We’re living in a world that is increasingly more diverse and increasingly more nuanced, and it makes sense for our films — specifically the films that have target audiences that are teenaged to reflect that in a way that’s authentic…This movie is not about race, there’s never a conversation in the film. What it does is it just shows us existing.”