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What begins as a premise with so much potential ends as a book full of nothing, or worse, an appalling disregard for the humanity of teenagers and a deeply cynical and pathological view of life. One 7th grader decides nothing is worth it and climbs a tree. The best the others can muster is to pelt rocks his way. Really?!? Why doesn't one climb the tree and join him? Where are his parents? Why is it that all kids are equally threatened by this act, which I feel would only pose a minor threat to a few, and because of that they all turn into animals driven by base instincts? They are not isolated on some remote island. They all go home every evening to their parents, so the reader is left to believe that all of their parents are deaf to the world of their kids, and no conversations about "meaning in life" or active engagement in meaningful life activities are to be had by any of them.

One boy is a devout Muslim and he concedes to giving up his prayer mat to the "pile of meaning" and gets beaten to a pulp by his father to prove it has meaning? Really?!? A Beatles fan and avid guitar player sacrifices a finger on his hand. What?!? A girl agrees, in a very detached manner, to give up her virginity?!? Presumably this story is meant to work as a fable, but it doesn't whatsoever, and it is the sickest yarn I have yet come across in young adult literature. I find the entire story to be the most insulting diatribe against youth.

I have heard people say, in defense of this multiple award-winning story, that it provokes discussion. Any story that provokes a worthwhile discussion has some nugget for the reader to chew on. This one has absolutely nothing, as the title implies. To me this is a gimmick of the worst kind.