I usually don't read much YA books, but I had read some good things about Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It. And it's a post-apocalyptic novel which goes well with my Dystopian Novel Challenge and Carl's Sci-Fi Experience. And it's a quick read. And I love the cover.Miranda is a normal 16-year-old girl who lives in Pennsylvania. She loves swimming, ice skating, and worries if she'll have a date for the prom. But there happens to be an large asteroid on a collision course with the moon. No one is worried though. In fact, everyone has gathered outside that night in May to watch the event. But something goes wrong. The asteroid throws the moon off kilter. And soon the world discovers just how much the moon's gravity pull affects the earth: tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoe eruptions, and more.
Life As We Knew It is Miranda's journal which documents the days before the asteroid hit to months after the event. It's about her and her family's struggle for survival. About her struggle as she grows up in the face of all the disaster.
I loved how the book was written in Miranda's voice, journalistic style. It reminded me of The Diary of Anne Frank where huge catastrophic events occurred but sometimes a girl just thinks about her friends and boys. And it works.
The only thing I didn't like was the portrayal of Christians in the book. I'm a Christian and I know there are fanatics of every sect everywhere, but I hope Ms Pfeffer doesn't think that all Christians would act that way.
I do kind of wish there was a sequel. But Susan Beth Pfeffer wrote a companion novel, The Dead and the Gone, which shows the events unfolding through the eyes of New York City kid. It sound pretty good too.
Here's an alternative cover. It's good but I like the other one better:
And here's the cover for the second novel:
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I finished this a few days ago and I loved it! I loved Miranda's voice too. I want to get The Dead and the Gone soon.
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite read from last year because of how simple and raw and powerful it was. Definitely recommend the dead and the gone as well.
ReplyDeleteAND, there's a third book in the works (2010) called This World We Live In which will continue both Miranda's and Alex's (the protagonist from tdatg) stories :)
Hmm, sounds interesting. I'm always up for a good world-smashing. Did you ever read Lucifer's Hammer?
ReplyDeleteI added yours to mine too! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, and I totally agree about the Christian thing. And not that I'm a George Bush fan by any means, but I just didn't think the thinly-veiled political slams really added much to her story either.
ReplyDelete