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8th out of 104 books
—
460 voters
All the Broken Pieces
by
Ann E. Burg (Goodreads Author)
A remarkable literary debut by a stunning new voice in children's fiction.
Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is haunted: by bombs that fell like dead crows, by the family -- and the terrible secret -- he left behind. Now, inside a caring adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events force him to choose between silence and ca...more
Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is haunted: by bombs that fell like dead crows, by the family -- and the terrible secret -- he left behind. Now, inside a caring adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events force him to choose between silence and ca...more
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
April 1st 2009
by Scholastic Press
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Young Matt was born in Vietnam, his father was an American soldier that abandoned his family. Matt was around ten years old when his mother begged American Soldiers to take her son to the U.S.A in hopes that he would have a better life.
Now in the States Matt is adopted by loving parents, and surrounded by an amazing support group, that teaches him baseball and piano. Still, two years later, his difficult past still haunts him, he wakes up at night from nightmares, a few kids at school taunt and...more
Now in the States Matt is adopted by loving parents, and surrounded by an amazing support group, that teaches him baseball and piano. Still, two years later, his difficult past still haunts him, he wakes up at night from nightmares, a few kids at school taunt and...more
"There is darkness on the water.
There is darkness on the land.
There is darkness all around us,
but I will hold your hand.
You are safe, my precious child.
You are safe now, you are home.
We have found you and we love you.
You will never be alone."
—All the Broken Pieces, PP. 11-12
The feel of this book in general will be familiar to readers who loved Karen Hesse's Newbery Medal-winning Out of the Dust. The verse flows forth unimpeded, gently and quietly introducing the story of Matt Pin, a b...more
There is darkness on the land.
There is darkness all around us,
but I will hold your hand.
You are safe, my precious child.
You are safe now, you are home.
We have found you and we love you.
You will never be alone."
—All the Broken Pieces, PP. 11-12
The feel of this book in general will be familiar to readers who loved Karen Hesse's Newbery Medal-winning Out of the Dust. The verse flows forth unimpeded, gently and quietly introducing the story of Matt Pin, a b...more
No complaints about this one. I enjoyed how it tied in baseball and the Vietman war from the perspective of a Vietnemise boy adoped into an American family (he is actually the son of an America Soldier). The was the boys tells the story through poems makes it accessable to reluctant readers without making it simple. I will definitely share this one with both baseball fans and non-baseball fans!
I liked this book because it tells about a kid was was sent to the United States after bombing in Vietnam and was adopted by a caring family. The book is also in free verse making it easier to read. Parts about the book I didn't like were that it didn't tell enough about the life back in Vietnam. It would just have a couple of flashbacks. The plot is that Matt Pin tries out for the high school baseball team and makes it but is ridiculed because of his race. The setting of the book is at Matt's h...more
Another solid Rebecca Caudill nominee! I thoroughly enjoyed All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg. However, there were lots of minor writing flaws, but overall this is a solid debut novel and is hugely inspirational and encouraging.
To begin, let me start with the praises. The characters, surprisingly, were extraordinarily well-developed and SUPER realistic. The characters in All the Broken Pieces are so well-developed and unique. These characters are super realistic as well...these characters have t...more
To begin, let me start with the praises. The characters, surprisingly, were extraordinarily well-developed and SUPER realistic. The characters in All the Broken Pieces are so well-developed and unique. These characters are super realistic as well...these characters have t...more
Reading a verse novel was certainly a new experience for me--but I do not think I could have picked a better novel to start with than All the Broken Pieces. Upon initial reviews of the book, the plot incorporated around war, baseball, and a boy immediately captured my interest. While reading, not once was this interest ever lost.
As with any good book, All the Broken Pieces has a character in Matt I that I could genuinely feel for. As a twelve year old, he has seen--and been through-- things tha...more
As with any good book, All the Broken Pieces has a character in Matt I that I could genuinely feel for. As a twelve year old, he has seen--and been through-- things tha...more
All the Broken Pieces, by Ann E. Burg is on the 2010 National Books for a Global Society list. As a combination of historical and realistic fiction along with the main topics of war and sports, this young adult novel in verse is difficult to put down. Set during the Vietnam War, it tells the story about a young boy named Matt Pin from Vietnam who was airlifted out during the war after his mother begged American Soldiers to take him so he could live in the United States and have a better life tha...more
All the Broken Pieces in a novel written in verse about Matt, a seventh grade boy adopted at age ten from Vietnam. Matt now has a father who sings along to the radio, a mother who brings him snacks while he does his homework, a three year-old brother who follows him, a coach determined to teach his team to work together, and a piano teacher who reminds him to play the silent notes, but Matt is unable to forget his life in Vietnam. He resents his biological, white father from abandoning his Vietn...more
I liked this book because I can relate to Matt's problems, such as how Rob bullied him because I got bullied at my old school. Matt had a hard time adjusting to his new life but some how he managed to finally fit in and be friends with Rob. When Coach Robenson told the baseball team he had cancer, it reminded me of when my mom told me my great grandma had to go to the doctor to get a check up to see if she had cancer. I think this book was really about Matt piecing his life back together, like w...more
This book was amazing and vivid and it had poetry that was rich and inspiring and this was definitely a 5 star book. And it was about Matt not fitting in entirely and feeling guilty and having a sad soul. He was almost depressed. How he lost his brother in Vietnam, his mother gave him away (not because she didn't love him) and it was so inspiring. Ann E. Burg is an amazing author and I at first thought this was a non-fiction or a biography book because it seemed so real. And his story compared t...more
Wow! I just finished this book and am sitting here with tears streaming down my face looking for the tissue box. What a powerful book! This novel told in verse is the story of Matt, a Vietnamese-American boy who was airlifted out of Vietnam. He has been adopted by an American family. This story is about his current life – making the baseball team as a star pitcher, learning to play the piano, being bullied for being Vietnamese – and his memories about his mother and brother that he left in Vietn...more
This book is written in the format of poems. There are very few words on every page, however Ann E. Burg made every word count. Every word in there, is there for a reason. I really, really admire that. She's able to tell a story with minimum words, by stringing recollections of the war, one by one. It's like painting a collage with words. Except, the pieces of artwork come from painful memories of the now remaining veterans of the war. Ann E. Burg, using her references, just pieced together a st...more
All the Broken Pieces is about a twelve year old Vietnamese boy, Matt Pin, who two years after being air-lifted out of Vietnam, currently torn apart by war, lives in an adoptive United States home. The story reveals the lasting impact war leaves in its wake, as well as the hope and healing process brought about by trust and love. The book is written in lucid verse, which is what first drew me to the book. I had not yet read a book written in this form, and the idea of reading a story in this way...more
Matt, a Vietnamese child, lives with a caring family that adopted him in the United States. He struggles to leave his memories behind, but his e has nightmares of his past that keeps coming back. He plays catch with his baseball obsessed father, and tries to be in the school baseball team, however it doesn't seem like he was wanted in the team at all. Rob, another kid trying out for the team, always claims that Matt had killed his brother. However, things turned from hatred, to pure understandin...more
In 1975, toward the end of the Vietnam war, many children were airlifted away from the fighting in Vietnam and sent to The United States. Many of the children were orphans, but some of the children were put on the helicopters by their own parents, parents who hoped to keep their children from being hurt in the war.
Can you imagine how sad it would be to have to send your child to strangers in a strange land? And what if you were one of the children? Would you understand if your mom or dad sent yo...more
Can you imagine how sad it would be to have to send your child to strangers in a strange land? And what if you were one of the children? Would you understand if your mom or dad sent yo...more
Written in free verse poetry vignettes, Ann E. Burg's All the Broken Pieces has all of the earmarks of a writer with something to say. It will be interesting to see where she goes from here--I have memories of a graduate school contemporary literature course observation that Marilyn Robinson's Housekeeping falls into a short line of authors who write a mighty first book and then--pffft. Nothing. Of course Harper Lee and J.D. Salinger lead that list.
I'm not comparing ABP to any of those novels or...more
I'm not comparing ABP to any of those novels or...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Two years ago, Matt was airlifted out of Vietnam, leaving behind his family, just as the Vietnam War was in full swing. When he is brought to the United States, he is adopted by an American family, learns English, and begins going to school. Matt’s story is told in verse and weaves information from both his past life and his present life. Matt is haunted by the memories and secrets he is holding within himself from his time living in Vietnam during the war, which was actually his whole life. Mat...more
2012 Rebecca Caudill nominee. Matt, with a Vietnamese mother and an American GI father, was part of the Vietnam airlift of "orphans" at the end of the war. He has been adopted by an American couple and has a much younger brother, the natural son of Matt's adoptive parents. Two years later, Matt is in 7th grade and living a double life--trying to live a normal American life while remembering his life in Vietnam with his mother and disabled younger brother, a life of war and smoke and bombs. Why d...more
All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg (2009)
Novel in Verse, 218 pages
In brilliant verse, Ann Burg shares the experiences of Matt Pin, a Vietnamese refugee who was adopted by an American family. Airlifted out of war-stricken Vietnam when he was 10, he still remembers it all, and the memories haunt him: the mother who made him leave her to come to America, his younger brother’s limbs lost to war, the American father who never returned for him or his mother. Now in seventh grade, Matt has a loving new...more
Novel in Verse, 218 pages
In brilliant verse, Ann Burg shares the experiences of Matt Pin, a Vietnamese refugee who was adopted by an American family. Airlifted out of war-stricken Vietnam when he was 10, he still remembers it all, and the memories haunt him: the mother who made him leave her to come to America, his younger brother’s limbs lost to war, the American father who never returned for him or his mother. Now in seventh grade, Matt has a loving new...more
I think this book was great. Sad, but great. The description were short but if you thought deeper into individual words, especially in the ones that seem to make no sense and try to over think? think deeper it to its meaning or what its similar too than a vibrant story unfolds. Most of the setting is up to you, but my the mood and tone its pretty easy to formulate with out ever describing the house other than that is has thin walls. I liked the boys thoughts in the story, specifically when he th...more
Maybe love is like
a monsoon rain.
When it rains
really hard and heavy,
it seems like
it will never end
and we will swim in mud
forever.
But then the wind shifts,
and the earth grows
dry and cracked.
Every gurgle and ooze
tiptoes away
and we're left wishing
and waiting
for rain again.
Maybe love is like that
Maybe the wind shifts
and love just tiptoes away.
Had to include this. My favourite passage for the last three lines.
Matt is 10 years old, loved by his adoptive parents but still struggling with the family h...more
a monsoon rain.
When it rains
really hard and heavy,
it seems like
it will never end
and we will swim in mud
forever.
But then the wind shifts,
and the earth grows
dry and cracked.
Every gurgle and ooze
tiptoes away
and we're left wishing
and waiting
for rain again.
Maybe love is like that
Maybe the wind shifts
and love just tiptoes away.
Had to include this. My favourite passage for the last three lines.
Matt is 10 years old, loved by his adoptive parents but still struggling with the family h...more
Wow. This is a book I wouldn't have picked up if the sixth graders had not picked it for our book and bag discussion. I do love novels in verse and verse suited this story so well, it kept the story moving and clear and beautiful.
Matt is a 10 year old Vietnamese boy who was born during the war. His father was an American solider. He is one of the hundreds of children air lifted out of Vietnam at the end of the war. He left behind his mother and younger brother who was injured. In his adoptive fa...more
Matt is a 10 year old Vietnamese boy who was born during the war. His father was an American solider. He is one of the hundreds of children air lifted out of Vietnam at the end of the war. He left behind his mother and younger brother who was injured. In his adoptive fa...more
Just finished this wonderful book about the aftermath of Vietnam. Beautifully written and quick to read, but it leaves you thinking about the war in a whole different way. I highly recommend this book, but it's a definite RWK (read with Kleenex)!
From the book jacket: Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is haunted: by bombs that fell like dead crows, by the family - and the terrible secret - he left behind. Now, inside a caring adoptive home in the United States, a s...more
From the book jacket: Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is haunted: by bombs that fell like dead crows, by the family - and the terrible secret - he left behind. Now, inside a caring adoptive home in the United States, a s...more
Jan 10, 2011
Erin!! :))
added it
All the Broken Pieces
By: Ann E. Burg
Written by: Erin Behe
“My brother died because of you.” How would you like it if someone said that to you everyday? That’s what it’s like for Matt. A kid that got lifted out of the Vietnam War when he was little. But still, all the memories flood him of what happened in Vietnam. He starts to go to Veteran voices, or VV to share about what happened in Vietnam. Matt doesn’t like to talk about what happened. He left his mother and his dead brother and the smell...more
By: Ann E. Burg
Written by: Erin Behe
“My brother died because of you.” How would you like it if someone said that to you everyday? That’s what it’s like for Matt. A kid that got lifted out of the Vietnam War when he was little. But still, all the memories flood him of what happened in Vietnam. He starts to go to Veteran voices, or VV to share about what happened in Vietnam. Matt doesn’t like to talk about what happened. He left his mother and his dead brother and the smell...more
The story of 7th grader Matt Pin is told in verse, a format I usually dislike (I'm not a poem person). But this one gripped me from page 1 and never let me down. The tight writing enabled me to feel what the boy struggles through as, three years after leaving his Vietnam home, he deals with enemies in school, a beloved coach facing cancer, a new baby brother who might take his adopted families love away, and injured Vietnam veterans who force him to confront his past. Matt and his mother were ab...more
A very sweet, touching story, making real the horrors of the Vietnam War but at the same time still appropriate for 9-to-12s. Airlifted out of Vietnam and evacuated to safety in America, twelve-year-old Matt has been living for two years with adoptive parents who adore him. But the war lingers, in his own mind and in the world around him. He misses the family he left behind; he blames himself for his lost little brother's land mine injuries. Once a week he goes to a meeting for Vietnam veterans,...more
Matt is a bui doi, a child born of an American solider and a Vietnamese mother during the course of America's war in Southeast Asia. His mother made arrangements for him to come and live in the United States. He is adopted by a family with another son, who is younger than Matt. The year is 1977, and Matt is learning to live with the guilt of his connections to the war.
His most obvious guilt is tied to the fact that he has left his mother and his younger brother, who was badly injured before Matt...more
His most obvious guilt is tied to the fact that he has left his mother and his younger brother, who was badly injured before Matt...more
Seventh grader Matt Pin is a child of war. Airlifted out of Vietnam by American soldiers and adopted by a loving American family, he carries within him inescapable visions of chaos: “the smell and the smoke and the sound of someone crying,” his mother’s “thin, shrill staccato” voice when she urged him away from her to safety “through sounds of whirring helicopters and open prayers,” and his 3 yr. old brother’s burned, dismembered body.
At the center of these visions is a dark secret, one Matt kee...more
At the center of these visions is a dark secret, one Matt kee...more
Genre: Historical Fiction
Copyright: 2009
"All the Broken Pieces" was a great book whose protagonist was someone I related to in more ways than one. The book follows the life of a young Vietnamese boy named Matt, who leaves war-torn Vietnam and is adopted by a loving family in America. The story takes place during the end of the Vietnam War, and although Matt has left the war behind, he must battle his own war raging inside of him.
This story was very sad, and made me think about life and how preci...more
Copyright: 2009
"All the Broken Pieces" was a great book whose protagonist was someone I related to in more ways than one. The book follows the life of a young Vietnamese boy named Matt, who leaves war-torn Vietnam and is adopted by a loving family in America. The story takes place during the end of the Vietnam War, and although Matt has left the war behind, he must battle his own war raging inside of him.
This story was very sad, and made me think about life and how preci...more
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“Sometimes the words people don't say are as powerful as the ones they do.”
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“Words are messy,
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words are all you've got
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