Sunday, October 25, 2009

Life As We Knew It

Life As We Knew It (Moon, #1) Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Book 41 of 50 for the New Author Challenge
Book 11 of 55 for the Countdown Challenge (2005)
Book 2 for the YA Dystopian Reading Challenge

Book 6 of 25 for the MG Reading Challenge
Awards: Nebula Award/Finalist; ALA Best Book for Young Adults; Andre Norton Award; Booklist Editors' Choice; Quill Book Awards


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've had this one on my to-read list for awhile and even managed to snag a copy through BookMooch. I figured nothing could get me to stay awake during the week hours of the read-a-thon like a book that would scare the living daylights out of me, and this one definitely did its job!

When a meteor hits the moon and knocks it slightly off orbit, the effect on the earth is catastrophic. Miranda, a sophomore in high school, goes from worrying about whether or not she'll go to the prom to worrying about whether or not she and her family will have enough food and fuel to survive the winter. The book is written as Miranda's journal entries. It's a style that I love and I think works especially well with this plot.

I felt like Pfeffer did an excellent job grasping that feeling of helplessness, anxiety, and panic that happens when disaster strikes. I was reminded a lot of how I felt during September 11th, and could imagine how that might be on an even bigger scale. But the author also does a great job portraying how the survival instinct kicks in (or not) and how different people react in a given situation. You can't read this book without considering your own emergency preparedness.

I think this book would be appropriate starting at junior high age. There is a companion book, The Dead and Gone, which looks at the same event from a different set of eyes. At the moment I don't plan on reading it since I was kind of hoping for a continuation of Miranda's story instead. But this is a book that will definitely get you thinking!

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As always, please let me know if I have missed yours! (Blogger is being sketchy tonight, so I know I'm missing lots!)

Source: BookMooch

11 comments:

Unknown said...

It's a good one fear-inducing one this one, isn't it? :)

While I've not read it myself yet, the second one probably needs reading as from what I've heard the last in the trilogy to be released next year brings both strands together.

bermudaonion said...

I love books written as journals, so this one sounds really appealing to me.

Tasha said...

I liked this book, too, although I have yet to read The Dead and The Gone.

Anonymous said...

I just got this book from the library.Looks like its going to be a good read.

Amanda said...

That is a great book for the read-a-thon. I added your review link to mine. Thanks!

Booklogged said...

Sounds like a great book for the wee hours of the readathon.

Corinne said...

This one grabbed me by the throat. I really liked it and my food storage thanks it as well :)

3m.michelle said...

I enjoyed this book as well. Glad you liked it. You're doing great on the Countdown Challenge, too!

Cecelia said...

Sounds like a solid add to my mountain of to-be-read titles. Great little review!

3m.michelle said...

Also want to add that I heard that she is writing a third books that sort of brings this one and The Dead adn the Gone together.

Karen K. said...

I read The Dead and the Gone for a children's lit class last spring. It scared the pants off of me! It was so realistic and so well done, I've been recommending it to everyone. I do want to read Life As We Knew It, and I think I've checked it out of the library three times, but somehow other books keep pushing it aside. I'll move it back up on my TBR list.