Nothing by Janne Teller

Think a dark and brooding Henrik Ibsen. Think the chilling psychological possibilities of Lord of the Flies. Think searching for meaning in life and finding Nothing.

Agnes, the story’s narrator, is a seventh grade student in a small town in Denmark. Her class is thrown into an existential dilemma when Pierre, a fellow classmate, takes to the plum tree in his yard declaring that life has no meaning. Anxious to prove him wrong, the class decides to create a “heap of meaning” in an abandon sawmill and start collecting things that mean something to someone. It all begins innocently as they gather broken teacups and odd stuffed animals from neighbors and friends. Then, realizing that Pierre will never acknowledge these as meaningful, the first of the students is forced to give up a treasured collection of "Dungeons and Dragons" books. He is then given the responsibility of naming what is to be surrendered by another classmate. As the process continues through the class, the demands escalate in cruelty. A Muslim boy must give up his prayer rug knowing he will receive a beating at home. A deeply religious student is required to steal a crucifix from the front of the church. A tiny casket is unearthed. Ultimately the demands lead to unexpected acts of personal violence. First published in Denmark in 2001, Nothing won the Danish Cultural Ministry Prize for best children’s book and was described by one reviewer in Sweden as “a youth novel in Nobel Prize class”. The 2008 French translation earned Le Prix Libbylit. The American Library Association named the English translation a Printz Honor book. For all its recognition, this is a disturbing story in much the same way that Lord of the Flies is disturbing and readers of that earlier book will relish this one for all the same reasons.