Tommy Wallach’s debut young adult novel, We All Looked Up truly puts life into perspective as it follows four teens who turn the end of the world into a life-altering experience.
Thanks to the asteroid labeled ARDR-1388, nicknamed Ardor, every person on Earth is given about two months to live and a 66% chance of survival. The novel starts out before the news of the asteroid is discovered and follows four teens as the world as they know it begins to fall apart. Anita, Eliza, Peter, and Andy could not be more different from one another, but somehow towards the end of the world, they find a connection that seems to put their lives into perspective.
Andy, a slacker, begins to search for a reason to get out of bed in the morning after the news of Ardor hits, that’s when he begins to hang out with Anita, the smart overachiever who’s attending Princeton in the Fall (if they make it, that is). The two, on paper, would seem to be complete and total opposites, but they instantly bond over their love of music. Anita’s parents tried her whole life to keep her away from what she loved, but once the news of Ardor came about, she found herself beyond ecstatic despite the eerie presence of the blue star. Anita could finally have a reason to disobey her parents and decided to spend her last two months on Earth doing what she’d always wanted to do.
Eliza, a young photographer running a popular blog titled “Apocalypse Already”, found her life growing from worse to much worser, even before Ardor’s appearance. She soon finds herself being drawn to popular jock Peter as she begins to try to piece her life together. Eliza and Peter had only a small bit of history together, sharing just one small moment in the photo lab at school a year prior which ruined Eliza’s unknown status and non-existent reputation; she instantly became the talk of the school. Peter and Eliza haven’t spoken in over a year, but after the news, they suddenly felt the need to find meaning in the time they’ve been allotted.
The novel, overall, is very realistic in that the ways the teen’s lives and thoughts are portrayed are seemingly accurate to modern day kids in high school. The plot is very different from that of more recent science fiction novels and is overall pretty original. The novel enhances the true meaning of life and Wallach seems to easily capture the reality of how modern day citizens would react to this situation. For example the riots, extreme panic, and overall mass destruction of the ways of life people had become accustomed to for decades are portrayed as if Wallach had witnessed it himself.
The story is told from each of the characters’ different perspectives, most of the time with overlapping details. It was interesting seeing each character strip themselves of who they were known as and what they were known for to discover true meaning in their lives. The novel was overall extremely well written and has readers feeling as if they’re actually a part of the story. We All Looked Up is recommended more for high school students due to the fact that middle schoolers and below may not be able to understand some of the novel’s topics.
Wallach’s debut novel was published on March 24th by Simon & Schuster and has so far been a complete success. Wallach began writing seriously at the age of 17 and in total has written seven novels including We All Looked Up, but he even stated to amny.com that he had “… no success at all with the other six.” His debut novel has become so well liked that it has even received an offer from Paramount Pictures for a movie deal which is currently underway. He is also a musician and has released a companion album to go along with his novel, which is currently on Itunes. Currently, Wallach is working on publishing another novel for next April and is called Thanks for the Trouble.
The novel really puts life into perspective. It shows the point of view of high school students living their lives, worrying about minor things, knowing that they have their whole lives ahead of them until one day. It shows how things and life can end at any moment, emphasizing the philosophy of only having one life to live. Wallach was truly able to create this fictional situation that appeared almost realistic. Also, he emphasized not sweating the small things because there’s always something bigger than anything happening at the moment, it reminds the readers how small things are in comparison to others.
