All the Broken Pieces

Matt Pin was airlifted from Vietnam at the age of 10 and adopted by an American family. He is now in seventh grade and has adjusted well to his new family. He remembers the early adoption classes and meetings when he was learning to speak English, and he's glad they helped him remember the customs and traditions of his culture. His American parents now have a biological son, but Matt has always felt loved and appreciated. The downside is that Matt also remembers Vietnam. He hasn't forgotten the sounds, the smells, and the horrors of war. He knows his father was an American soldier, but he's not sure why he left his mother behind. Should he want to find this missing father or just put it all in the past? He knows his mother told him she loved him and that was why she sent him away, but how do you give up someone you love? What haunts him the most is the younger brother he left behind. Matt can't find the words to share the tragic story that separated him from the toddler. His loving American parents hope time will heal the many wounds created by the awfulness of war. Their encouragement, along with that of another Vietnam vet, the game of baseball, and Matt's interest in music, work together to start the healing process. ALL THE BROKEN PIECES is the first novel for author Ann E. Burg. Written in verse, the spare language brings focus to the raw emotions felt by all the characters. Burg examines the effects of war from many vantage points as she involves her readers in this turbulent time. Even readers without a connection to this controversial war will come away with an understanding of the widespread damage done when war is chosen over peace. Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

Not only is "All The Broken Pieces" beautifully written, I found it compelling in every way: The story is riveting -- a young Vietnamese boy adopted by an American couple at the end of the Vietnam war, how he outwardly acclimatizes to his new family, school and country but has a rich and troubled inner life riddled with nightmares and waking fears and how these and others' prejudices affect him; The verse is spare yet utterly evocative in its brevity -- it communicates better than any regular prose novel the way images and conflicting thoughts and feelings tangle in people's minds every day; The emotions it conveys from and about the characters are affecting -- you can't help but feel the small happinesses, the pain, the joy of resolution.. And all of this in a quick read that already has me returning to it to find passages that especially moved me. I think this book will resonate for anyone, and it will certainly have special relevance for those of us who lived through the Vietnam era, who had friends or loved ones who fought in the war, or who was there him or herself.