All the bright places by Jennifer Niven
Penguin Random House, 2020. ISBN: 9780241395967.
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. Two young teenagers meet on the
narrow outside ledge of the school clock tower. Theodore Finch is
known as Theodore Freak, the weird boy always doing something crazy.
He is contemplating whether this day is the day that he will die.
Violet Markey is one of the cool girls, but who now suddenly feels
alone and guilty, having lost her sister in a car accident that
Violet blames herself for. Both find themselves looking down on the
school grounds far below.
Violet gets the credit for talking Finch down. Little do family and
school friends know but it was actually more in the reverse: it was
Finch who saved Violet's life. Thus begins a tenuous relationship as
Violet gets drawn more and more into a friendship with a person who
seems so charismatic, so dramatically in love with life, and so
irrepressibly full of enthusiasm - nobody can read these pages
without loving Finch. Only gradually the reader becomes aware of the
violence, the apathy, and the neglect that have coloured his life,
and which have left their deep scars. Finch however constantly
strives to find the joy and beauty in life. It is not until the
latter pages of the book that the reader, like Violet, comes to
really understand his situation.
The two students collaborate on a school geography project that
challenges them to explore the unique and celebratory places in
their home state of Indiana. In doing so they draw closer together,
and Violet gradually braves the demons that hold her back. She
becomes 'Ultraviolet Remarkey-able' as Finch likes to call her.
Author Jennifer Niven has written a tender story about two teenagers
struggling with thoughts of suicide, drawn together by a shared
experience of loneliness, rejection, depression and guilt. It is a
sensitive portrayal of grief and teenage love that is sad but
ultimately uplifting in its resolution. I am sure it will be a very
popular film when it comes to Netflix.
The end pages remind young readers that they are not alone, and
there is help out there. They list support services in the U.K.,
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Helen Eddy