Every Moment Counts is a young adult novel aimed at mature readers. The story follows the last day in the life of the main protagonist Giacomo (Mina), who is newly in love with Martina and can't wait to go on holiday with his friends after graduating from high school. Although he has been suffering from a headache all day, he doesn't worry too much about it, he borrows his father's car and sets off on a long drive to Gallipoli with his friend Fabion (Fab). But Giacomo never arrives there...
This is a story about entering the world of adults. Growing up is an important, complex and problematic theme of many contemporary literary works, as it erases the traces of a carefree childhood, which everyone wants to leave behind as soon as possible due to "limitations". This is also the case with the main protagonist of the novel, Min. Through a first-person narrative, he takes the reader to the day when he is just finishing his high school diploma, meets his girlfriend, who was a victim of sexual violence in the past, plays an important football match and goes on holiday with his best friend Fab. Their relationship and friendship as a value come to the fore: the heroes stand by each other, encourage each other, help each other, and at the same time join forces and ingenuity to achieve a common goal. Unlike classic youth novels that end with the prospect of a bright future, Every Moment Counts foregrounds the problematic theme of transience.
The novel can also be read as Giacomo's personal diary of the fully spent minutes of his last day, in which the narrator focuses on numerous scattered little things that call for understanding how precious every moment is, how important it is to live each one fully as if it were your last. A poignant, yet deeply appealing read for both young and adult readers. (summarized from the general p. of the Celje Mohorjeva druzba)