Book Club Picks
2016 · Costco's Buyer's Pick
About This Book
From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure's reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure's converge.
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure's reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure's converge.
Awards
Colorado Blue Spruce Award
2016 · Young Adult · Nominee
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence
2015 · Fiction · Winner
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence
2015 · Fiction · Finalist
Dayton Literary Peace Prize
2015 · Fiction · Runner-Up
Indies Choice Book Award
2015 · Fiction · Finalist
Indies Choice Book Award
2015 · Fiction · Winner
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award
2015 · Regional Book · Winner
ALA Notable Books
2015 · Fiction
Audies
2015 · Fiction · Winner
Alex Award
2015 · Adult/For Young Adults · Winner
Pulitzer Prize
2015 · Fiction · Winner
Idaho Library Association Book Award
2014 · Outstanding Contribution · Nominee
Idaho Library Association Book Award
2014 · Outstanding Contribution · Winner
National Book Award
2014 · Fiction · Finalist
Booklist Editors Choice
2014 · Adult
Goodreads Choice Award
2014 · Historical Fiction · Winner
Indie Next
2014 · Starred Review
LibraryReads
2014 · Starred Review
LibraryReads
2014 · Year-End Favorite
Genres & Themes
Genres
Subgenres
Themes
Buy This Book
Formats & Editions
Browse the different covers, formats, and publication history for this title.
