All the Broken Pieces by Ann. e burg

All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg is the story told in first-person free verse by Matt Pin, a boy born to a Vietnamese women and an American soldier in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Adopted by a very loving American family, it is 1977, two years after he was airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam and he is still having terrible memories of war, the American solider father that left him, his mother giving him up and watching his little brother becoming severally injured by a bomb right before his eyes. Trying out for the baseball team shows some of the prejudice his faces, “Hey, Frog Face, where’d you learn to play baseball in a rice paddy? Matt-the-rat, if you make the team, I’ll quit. My brother died because of you.” Through the efforts of two Vietnam Vets and his loving adoptive family he slowly comes to terms with his past and shows that “patience and unconditional love is the strongest healing force.”

Overall this book was amazing! I really liked how the author explained things in a way that really made you think. First of all the character in this were amazing and completely life like. I like how all of the characters had their own problems, weaknesses, and strengths. However the character that I think changed the most was Matt. He went from being completely disgusted with himself to being able to look himself in the mirror. He really progressed as a person because he was at first very nervous about talking about the war. Whereas in the end he can openly discuss the war and he is no longer afraid of his life and mistakes. I think that the theme was that you should always forgive yourself no matter what you do. Because in the end what is done has been done and there is no changing it. I overall thought this book was absolutely amazing. A great read and definitely going to be something I would recommend.