Grade 6
Published by Simon and Schuster
Reading Level: 880L
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize 2015Winner of the Carnegie Award 2015
2
starred reviews:
“If a book’s success can be measured by its
ability to move readers and the number of memorable characters it has, Story
Prize–winner Doerr’s novel triumphs on both counts. Along the way, he convinces
readers that new stories can still be told about this well-trod period, and
that war—despite its desperation, cruelty, and harrowing moral choices—cannot
negate the pleasures of the world.”
Publishers Weekly
“Shifting among multiple viewpoints but focusing
mostly on blind French teenager Marie-Laure and Werner, a brilliant German
soldier..., this novel has the physical and emotional heft of a masterpiece.
The main protagonists are brave, sensitive, and intellectually curious, and in
another time they might have been a couple.... Highly recommended.” —Evelyn
Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC
Library Journal
This
book, All the Light We Cannot See, by
Anthony Doerr follows two separate people during World War II.
Marie- Laure lives
with her father near Paris, France. Her father is a master for all the locks
for the Museum of Natural History. Marie- Laure becomes blind at the age of
six. Her father then builds her a very detailed miniature replica of their
entire neighborhood. Marie-Laure memorizes these by touching them and can find
her way home from anywhere nearby in the neighborhood. When she is twelve, the
Nazis take over Paris. Marie-Laure and her father flee to SaInt-Malo to live
with her great uncle by the sea. But, with them is they may have the most
famous, dangerous, and valuable gem that France has to offer.
Werner is an orphan in a mining town in Germany. He and
his younger sister lived together at the orphanage. He begins assembling radios
in the orphanage, and listens to it with his sister late at night. Werner
becomes very skilled at assembling and fixing radios for local residence that
live in the town. When he fixes a radio for a Nazi soldier, he is given the
opportunity to attend the Academy for Hitler Youth. He assembles radios faster
than all other students and works on special radios that will be used in the
future. When he is older he is sent on a special assignment that leads him to
Sanit-Malo to track the resistance.
In Saint-Malo during the heart of World War II both
Marie-Laure and Werner’s story collide. Both trying to survive the war for very
different reasons.
Description: Historical Fiction
Suggested
Delivery: Individual, small group
Electronic
Resources (2):
This website is the authors website. This has a very
detailed summary of the book. This also has a video about how the author came
up with the idea to write the book and all the research he did for the book. This
can be used as a pre reading activity.
This website
has lessons for teaching this book. This contains the objective and activities
for this book that align with the Common Core State Standards. This will be
used as a during reading activity.
Vocabulary:
Rampart – an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes
Rampart – an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes
Ravine – a deep narrow steep-sided valley
Incendiary –
capable of catching fire spontaneously
Discern –
detect with the senses
Spire – a
tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building
Parapet – a
low wall along the edge of a roof or balcony
Bastion –
projecting part of a rampart or other fortification
Emissary –
someone sent on a mission to represent another’s interests
Teaching Suggestions:
·
Use this book to teach about WWII
·
Use this book to teach about individual
differences
Reading: Have the students research Anthony Doerr and other
books that he has published. Then have students research World War II. Then
show students the book trailer.
During Reading: Each student will be keeping a time line of
events that occur throughout the book. Since the book jumps between years,
After Reading: Have the students analyze the two main
characters, Marie-Laure and Werner. The students can compare the characters
from the beginning of the book to the end. Noting any changes the characters
may have had and how the events that occurred impacted these characters.
Writing Activity: Have students write an essay with the
following information. Describe
the setting of Saint-Malo and the circumstances of World War II in Saint-Malo
in August of 1944. For how long had the war been raging in Europe at this time?
What major events of the war occurred in August of 1944? What statements are on
the flyers that drop upon Saint-Malo in the first chapters?
Doerr, A. (2014). All the Light We Cannot See. New York: Simon & Schuster.
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