Exodus

title: Exodus
author: Julie Bertagna
how I read it: I borrowed this one three times from the public library

In the year 2099, the polar icecaps have melted and most of the world is underwater. 15-year-old Mara and her small village cling to a life of subsistence farming on Wing, an island in the North Atlantic that gets smaller every year. Finally, caught in a terrifying storm that seems to be eating up their island altogether, they set off into the ocean on small boats, with no guarantee that they will ever find anywhere to land.

The characters in this book are strong, realistic and likeable, but Bertagna doesn't pull any punches. Bad things sometimes happen to good people in this book, the way that they do in wars and environmental disasters. Bertagna researched refugee camps when writing this book, and this really comes through during some of the scenes. I could feel the hopelessness, hunger, fear, frustration and sheer boredom during the part of the book that drew on this research.

This is a truly remarkable book of courage, loss and perseverence. The fact that I read it three times (and would happily read it again) is testament to the quality of both story-telling and writing. Honestly, I don't feel that this book has gotten anywhere near the attention that it deserves. I've never met anyone who's read it, unless it's been on my recommendation. I don't understand what makes one book a bestseller while another equally good book - like Exodus - remains relatively unknown. If any young adult fiction belongs on a best-seller list, then this one should be right up there with the best of them.

This book made me want to: become a better swimmer.

Verdict: Truly beautiful book that I think should be on everyone's "must-read" list.

Sequels: Zenith (available) and Aurora (not yet finished). Exodus can be read as a standalone novel - no cliffhangers, although the ending is both open and bittersweet.

Life As We Knew It

title: Life As We Knew It
author: 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

Peeps

title: Peeps
author: Scott Westerfield
how I read it: once in print before giving it as a gift (what? I didn't break the spine) and once in ebook form

Cal is a Peep - a parasite positive. He's been infected by a parasite that alters human behaviour. The infected become light sensitive, strong and fast, phobic of the things and people they once loved, sex-starved, and very, very hungry for meat - human or otherwise. Luckily for Cal, he's a rare carrier rather than a full-blown Peep. Yeah, he's hungry and horny, but at least he's still mostly himself.

Peeps is a vampire book, except that there's nothing supernatural about it. This is no love story about a sweet young girl drawn towards a dark, brooding vampire. This is about garbage and rats and instinctive needs and infection and things that rumble deep in the Earth.

Peeps is suspenseful, fast-paced and easy to read. The tension mounts as the rats and garbage gather in the alleyways. There were a few scenes that made my heart pound, particularly when Cal found himself deep underground and close to a primal something that both terrified him and called to him.

Cal's voice - ironic, self-deprecating, funny, kind of nerdy - is strong and believable. Lace (Cal's new lady friend and partner in peep-hunting) is also likeable and funny, although it's a bit hard to believe that a woman in her twenties would preface every sentence with the word "dude".

Westerfield's take on vampirism is original and shockingly plausible, made all the moreso by detailed descriptions of actual existing parasites. This book is not for the squeamish. It hops back and forth between Cal's story and descriptions of parasite life cycles that are almost too graphic at times. (Well, too graphic for some. Personally, I love a good dose of gross.) These parallel parasite stories really creeped me out and helped me sink even more deeply into the story; if a parasite can make an ant climb the highest blade of grass and wait to be eaten by a cow, then who's to say that it couldn't change humans into mindless cannabilistic creatures?

Hey, it could happen.

There's an apocalyptic vibe to the book; you sense that the end is imminent, although the book doesn't fully go there. Peeps is a strong stand-alone book. While there are questions at the end that definitely leave you feeling that there's more to come, this book doesn't end on a cliffhanger designed to force you into buying another book. I love well-written sequals; I don't love being manipulated.

this book made me want to: study parasitology

verdict: I loved it! I highly recommend this book.

sequel: The Last Days