Book Club recap by Kara Eng, Grade 12

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

Summary: Four high school seniors put their hopes, hearts, and humanity on the line as an asteroid hurtles toward Earth in this contemporary novel.

They always say that high school is the best time of your life. Peter, the star basketball player at his school, is worried “they” might actually be right. Meanwhile Eliza can’t wait to escape Seattle—and her reputation—and perfect-on-paper Anita wonders if admission to Princeton is worth the price of abandoning her real dreams. Andy, for his part, doesn’t understand all the fuss about college and career—the future can wait. Or can it? Because it turns out the future is hurtling through space with the potential to wipe out life on Earth. As these four seniors—along with the rest of the planet—wait to see what damage an asteroid will cause, they must abandon all thoughts of the future and decide how they’re going to spend what remains of the present.


For October, YA Book Club read We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach. Although it was more realistic than fantasy (most members like fantasy), it was well-received. We discussed how the characters seemed believable. As teenagers ourselves, we were able to relate to their situations and reactions (although maturity levels were a little less believable at times). YA Book Club also didn’t favor one particular character. Usually, YA Book Club members have the same favorite character (and it’s usually pretty obvious who that person will be), but this was not the case. Every member of YA Book Club chose a different character. We All Looked Up did a good job of creating characters that we liked and situations that seemed real, causing some of us to cry at the more emotional parts. While the plot itself got mixed reviews (“good enough” and “best book that I’ve read in a while”), YA Book Club enjoyed We All Looked Up because the characters were so likeable and the setting was so vivid. Many in YA Book Club disliked the ambiguous ending, but agreed that it was the best decision for the novel and plot. Overall, YA Book Club gave We All Looked Up an average of 3.73/5 stars.


Find this book in our catalog: We All Looked Up

Call Number: YA SF WALLACH,T

370 pages