I’m flat out, over-the-top, madly in love with my
friends (sorry, but they aren’t characters) Theodore Finch and Violet
Markey. Finch and Violet are going to
keep you up late at night, they‘re going to interrupt your work, and they’re
going to make you wonder why the rest of the world is acting like nothing
happened.
All the
Bright Places opens with Finch standing at the edge of
his school’s bell tower, six stories above the ground. He wonders if this will
be the day – the day he lets the air carry him away “until there’s nothing.”
The ledge he’s on is about four inches wide and he’s holding his arms out and
shouting when he notices a girl, also on the ledge. He realizes that he knows
who she is and says. “Come her often? Because this is kind of my spot and I don’t
remember seeing you here before.”
Back on terra firma, and no, I’m not going to tell
you how they got down, Finch and Violet are paired together on a geography project
exploring the natural wonders of Indiana. They begin wandering and
discover each other. They shouldn’t fall in love: Violet is popular; Finch isn’t. Half the
school calls him “Theodore Freak” and a good girl like Violet doesn’t belong
with someone like him. Finch may be suicidal but he lives in the present and
appreciates new experiences. Violet is living just to finish the school year,
graduate, and get out of their small Indiana town. She’s grieving her sister’s death and can’t
embrace the present. As they wander, Violet opens up to new experiences and
love and Finch’s world becomes “ultraviolet.”
Wandering Indiana’s bizarre, out-of-the-way places
leads to finding the out-of-the way places within. This reader was surprised
that one of those places was the monastery and gardens just a few blocks from
my home. It’s where I vote and sometimes where my walks lead me and it’s what
some of us call “interesting.” Niven’s
description of it is quite simply perfect.
That she could so precisely capture this spot explained why all the
other places she described, places I’d never been, seemed so real to me. I had visited them all – I saw them through
Violet and Finch’s eyes.
Summing it Up: All
the Bright Places is a universal love story yet it’s as fresh as biting into
an orange on a cold winter’s day. As each section explodes in your mouth, you’re
reminded of the beauty of simply living. A novel dealing with mental illness, depression
and suicide doesn’t usually surprise you and make you laugh but All the Bright Places will do that and
more. If you enjoy reading Gayle Forman,
John Green, and Rainbow Rowell, you’ll want to read All the Bright Places. This book is simply “lovely” as Violet and
Finch might say. It makes me want to hug
my kids, eat carryout from Happy Family Chinese, go on a picnic, and remember
that it isn't what you take, it’s what you leave that matters. Read the first chapter and I can almost guarantee you’ll read the book.
Note: Yes, All
the Bright Places will be a movie and Elle Fanning will play Violet.
Rating: 5 stars
Ages 15 and Up
Category: Diet Coke and Gummi Bears, Fiction, Five Stars,
Grandma’s Pot Roast, Book Club
Publication date: January 6, 2014
Author Website: http://www.jenniferniven.com/
Read the first chapter: http://www.scribd.com/doc/244131564/All-the-Bright-Places-by-Jennifer-Niven#scribd
Interview with the Author: http://bookishantics.com/2015/01/06/interview-giveaway-bright-places-jennifer-niven/
Discussion Group Guide: http://www.jenniferniven.com/download/ATBP_DiscussionGuide.pdf
Educator Guide: http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ATBP_EducatorGuide.pdf
New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/books/review/jennifer-nivens-all-the-bright-places.html?emc=edit_bk_20150116&nl=books&nlid=14504126&_r=0
Publishers Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-385-75588-7
Publishers Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-385-75588-7
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