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240 pp.
| Atheneum
| February, 2010
|
TradeISBN 978-1-4169-8579-2$16.99
(3)
YA
Translated by Martin Aitken.
A nihilistic seventh-grader asserts: "Nothing matters" then climbs a tree and pelts his classmates with philosophical arguments (also plums from the tree). To refute him, the kids compile an increasingly horrifying "heap of meaning" (items include the dug-up casket of a baby and a classmate's freshly chopped-off finger). This stark meditation on mob mentality and life's meaning is devastating and argument-provoking.