Author: Anthony Doerr
Rating: I really liked it
Recommendation: Teens
All the Light We Cannot See is a story that is perfect for young adults and older to read, because of its emotional message and dramatic delivery of the story. The book follows two teenagers on opposite sides of World War II, and the war’s devastating consequences on the younger generations. The story doesn’t romanticize the war or the suffering, but offers instead the beauty of the perseverance and strength survivors developed. The book won a 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.
The story focuses on Marie-Laure and Werner Pfennig, two teenagers caught in the war. Marie-Laure is a blind girl who loves to learn and is incredibly intelligent, like her father, who dotes on her. For Marie-Laure, we see the world through her experiences, and Doerr constructs a vivid and compelling story without using sight. Werner is a young German boy of kind disposition who has a passion for radios. Living in an orphanage with his younger sister, he joins the Nazis for a chance at a better life using his intellect. Using well-placed parallels between their lives, Doerr uses a writing style that jumps back and forth from Marie-Laure to Werner, as well as back and forth in time. Using this writing style creates a jarring feeling for the reader, building suspense, dread, and care for the characters snippet by snippet.
Because the characters are complex and flawed just as they are the protagonists, Doerr creates a piece of historical fiction that readers will find themselves immersed in and relating to, despite the drastic setting of the story. This book has a serious and somber tone with little brightness, as is appropriate for its topic. However, it is a touching piece of literature that I would recommend for students looking for a heavier read.
Reviewed by: Margaret