The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Iloh, Candice. Every Body Looking. Penguin Random House, 2020.

This novel presents the story of Ada, the main character and first-person narrator, in many different ages throughout her life. Though the novel is presented in un-chronological order, Ada's story begins when she is in First Grade living in America. Her family is originally from Nigeria, and Ada finds it difficult to make friends or bridge the difference between her cultural and racial heritage and the culture of her American school. As a child, Ada is bullied and constantly othered by her classmates.

Ada is tragically molested and raped one night by an older cousin when she is staying over at her Grandmother's house. The event causes her to feel the lasting effects of trauma and shame in association with the assault, but without the means or support to explore what happened to her, she suffers the longstanding effects of that trauma. Ada's childhood is also marked by a negative relationship with her mother, who is emotionally manipulative and abusive to Ada.

Ada lives with her father throughout her childhood, but occasionally spends weekends with her mother. Ada's life at her father's house is enjoyable until multiple events cause her to lose agency over the space and over her privacy in the home. In moments where she seeks to express herself, either through singing, drawing, dancing, or writing in her journal, her privacy is consistently disrespected and her family members go through her personal affairs, read her personal writing, and criticize her ideas. All of these events make her feel as if she has no personal space.

Ada also feels an immense amount of pressure from her family by way of religion and religious engagement. Her father, an incredibly religious man with an intense relationship with Christianity and Jesus, uses the church and his conversation with Jesus to inform most of the decisions in his life. At any turning point, question, or moment of doubt in their journey, Ada's father asks for assistance from Jesus, ultimately causing Ada to feel confused about the power of the human will, especially the will and power of her own self to guide her throughout life. Ada's relationship with religion grows throughout the novel to incorporate her own personal perspectives of human and personal power.

When Ada finally leaves home to go to college, a new onslaught of life experiences leads her to feel like she has a chance to build her life in a way that makes sense to her personally, rather than molding her life to accommodate others' expectations and wants. She has relationships with boys, meets new friends, and gets a job as an assistant to the basketball team. A major influence in her life is her budding friendship with Kendra, who she meets accidentally while watching her dance at the college. This relationship, one that is potentially romantic, encourages her to follow her passions and choose dance as a college major rather than pursuing the business degree that her family expects her to complete. Ada joins up with Kendra's dance class, taught by a passionate teacher named Torion, and through this class finds that she is able to express herself in movement in a way that teaches her more about herself than any other influence in her life. Dancing allows Ada to feel control, agency, and freedom in her life, and this newfound power allows her to set stronger boundaries in unhealthy relationships and respect herself more in the process.