Nothing

Nothing
by Janne Teller

2011 Printz Honor Book

Teens

This novel tells the story of a group year 7 students in Denmark.  At the beginning of the school year, Pierre Anthon declares that nothing in life has meaning and that everything is a waste of time.  To prove his point, Pierre climbs up a plum tree and taunts his classmates with his ideas.  They are bothered by the idea that everything is meaningless, so they devise a plan to prove to Pierre wrong.  They begin building a "heap of meaning" at an old abandoned sawmill.  Their collection consists of meaningful items from each person in the group; and to be sure that a real sacrifice is made, each person decides what someone else must contribute.  As the collection grows, the demands become more and bizarre and sinister.

This book was disturbing to read and  will not be easily forgotten.  Does life have meaning?  This book explores what people do when they are confronted with the idea that life may be meaningless.  I enjoyed the fact that the chapters varied in length, some chapters were only one sentence long, and some were poetic.  I found it interesting that the book was originally written in Danish and won the Best Children's Book Prize from the Danish Cultural Ministry.