TeachingBooks
All the Broken Pieces

Book Resume

for All the Broken Pieces: A Novel in Verse by Ann E. Burg

Professional book information and credentials for All the Broken Pieces.

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  • Publisher's Weekly:
  • Ages 11 and up
  • TeachingBooks:*
  • Grades 7-12
  • Word Count:
  • 15,158
  • Lexile Level:
  • 680L
  • ATOS Reading Level:
  • 4.1
  • Cultural Experience:
  • Immigrant / Refugee
  • Asian
  • Asian American
  • Genre:
  • Historical Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Year Published:
  • 2009

The following unabridged reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers. Reviews may be used for educational purposes consistent with the fair use doctrine in your jurisdiction, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the rights holders.

Note: This section may include reviews for related titles (e.g., same author, series, or related edition).

From Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from April 13, 2009
Using spare free verse, first-time novelist Burg (Pirate Pickle and the White Balloon
) beautifully evokes the emotions of a Vietnamese adoptee as he struggles to come to terms with his past. Although he loves his American parents and new little brother, Matt misses the family he left behind two years ago, in 1975, when he was airlifted out of Vietnam. He feels guilty for leaving behind his toddler brother, who was mutilated by a bomb, and yearns for his birth mother, who pushed him “through screaming madness/ and choking dust” into the arms of soldiers. (“My parents say they love me./ He says/ I'll always be his MVP./ She says./ I'm safe, I'm home./ But what about my mother in Vietnam?”) Matt's baseball coach and Vietnam vet piano teacher help ease his pain, but it is the patience and unconditional love of his new parents, gently emerging throughout the story, that proves the strongest healing force. The war-torn Vietnamese village that appears in Matt's recurring nightmares sharply contrasts with the haven he has in America. Burg presents lasting images of both. Ages 11–up.

From AudioFile Magazine

This debut novel is short, compelling, and bittersweet. It's two years after the Vietnam War has ended. Ten-year-old Matt Pin was airlifted out of his native country to "safety" in the U.S., but what he experiences here includes discrimination and nightmares of the life he left behind. Despite a loving adoptive family, Matt struggles. He is an ace Little Leaguer, but a teammate who lost a brother in Vietnam directs his anger at Matt. Narrator Tobias Wong reads with heart and humor. While the novel is written in verse, Wong's haunting delivery carries the story with the immediacy of first-person prose. His quiet narration pulls us in, so we listen almost holding our breath as Matt's devastating secrets are revealed. M.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

All the Broken Pieces was recognized by committees of professional librarians and educators for the following book awards and distinctions.

All the Broken Pieces was selected by educational and library professionals to be included on the following state/provincial reading lists.

United States Lists (26)

Arizona

  • 2012 Grand Canyon Reader Award – Tween category

Arkansas

  • 2010-11 Arkansas Teen Book Award
  • 2011-2012 Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award

District of Columbia

  • Capitol Choices 2010

Georgia

  • 2011-2012 Georgia Children's Book Award

Illinois

  • 2012 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award

Indiana

  • 2011-2012 Young Hoosier Book Award

Iowa

  • 2011-2012 Iowa Teen Award

Kansas

  • 2011-2012 William Allen White Award

Kentucky

  • 2011 Kentucky Bluegrass Award, Middle School

Maine

  • 2010-2011 Maine Student Book Award

Maryland

  • 2010-11 Black-Eyed Susan Book Award

Nebraska

  • Golden Sower Award, 2012-2013 -- Young Adult category

New Jersey

  • 2012 Garden State Teen Book Awards, Middle School Fiction

New Mexico

  • 2011-12 New Mexico Battle of the Books for Middle Schools
  • Land of Enchantment Book Award, 2012-2013 -- Young Adult Division

New York

  • 2012 Charlotte Award, Middle School Division

Oklahoma

  • 2012 Sequoyah Book Awards—Intermediate

Oregon

  • 2011-2012 Oregon Battle of the Books

Rhode Island

  • 2011 Rhode Island Teen Book Award

South Carolina

  • 2011-2012 SCASL Junior Book Awards

Texas

  • 2010-11 Lone Star Reading List

Vermont

  • 2010-2011 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award

Virginia

  • Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013, Middle School

Wisconsin

  • 2010-11 Read On Wisconsin Book Club, Grades 6-8
  • 2010-11 Read On Wisconsin Book Club, Grades PK-12

Ann E. Burg on creating All the Broken Pieces:

This primary source recording with Ann E. Burg was created to provide readers insights directly from the book's creator into the backstory and making of this book.

Listen to this recording on TeachingBooks

Citation: Burg, Ann E.. "Meet-the-Author Recording | All the Broken Pieces." TeachingBooks, https://library.teachingbooks.net/bookResume/t/16658. Accessed 18 February, 2025.

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This Book Resume for All the Broken Pieces is compiled from TeachingBooks, a library of professional resources about children's and young adult books. This page may be shared for educational purposes and must include copyright information. Reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers.

*Grade levels are determined by certified librarians utilizing editorial reviews and additional materials. Relevant age ranges vary depending on the learner, the setting, and the intended purpose of a book.

Retrieved from TeachingBooks on February 18, 2025. © 2001-2025 TeachingBooks.net, LLC. All rights reserved by rights holders.