title: Life As We Knew Itauthor: Susan Beth Pfeffer
how I read it: purchased ebook
Miranda is a typical 16-year-old girl. She writes in her diary about the things that worry her: too much homework, fights with her mother, problems with friends, a crush on a boy. When the world starts getting excited about an asteroid set to crash into the moon, the only thing that bothers her is the fact that all of her teachers have assigned moon-related homework due at the same time. But then the two collide and the moon is pushed closer to Earth, changing both its orbit and Miranda’s world forever.
With a change in the moon’s orbit come massive and cataclysmic weather shifts; earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, volcanoes and drought kill millions of people around the world. One by one, the things that Miranda always took for granted are stripped away: school, food, water, gas, electricity, warmth, community, safety. All that is left for Miranda is her family and their struggle to survive in a dark, gray, lonely world.
The relationships between family members in this book are very believable. Like any realistic family drama, this is a story of sacrifice and love, but there's also plenty of bickering, jealousy and snark. None of the characters are always good; neither is anyone always bad. They are real, flawed human beings that make this story all the more compelling.
This is not an action-filled book. It's slow and quiet, the way that I imagine it must feel to die of hunger and tedium. The slowness and quiet are in no way dull; they simply add to the bleakness of the story. A story in which the world and its creatures are slowly dying couldn't possibly be anything but bleak. In some ways, it almost felt like a YA version of The Road, except at the beginning of the disaster rather than years later. Miranda's story is harrowing and gripping and I can't imagine anyone being able to put it aside once they've started reading. I read this book in one sitting and found myself feeling a little bit overwhelmed and nervous afterwards.
I don't enough about physics to know how plausible this story is. Still, this book is so real and engrossing that it's very easy to suspend all disbelief. Not only did I believe that it was happening to Miranda, I also started wondering if it could happen to me. Yeah, I may have done a google search on "how can I stockpile enough food to feed two adults for a year". I'm not too proud to admit it.
This book made me want to: buy a case of soup
Verdict: one of the best apocalyptic/disaster books that I've read! Highly, highly recommended.
Sequels: The Dead and the Gone, The World We Live In
I loved this book, as well as The Dead and the Gone. Still haven't made it to get a copy of the third book, but can't wait. What I liked the best about this one is the character arc of Miranda. She went from a typical shallow teen to a very responsible teen who sacrificed her own comfort to help her family.
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