The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Boston : Graphia/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008.
1st U.S. ed.
321 p. ; 18 cm.
Pfeffer wrote this book as a parallel novel to her Life as We Knew It (see post below). The former takes place in rural Pennsylvania, while this one follows the same global catastrophe in New York City. This one is a bit grittier: main characters die, parents disappear, and there are bodies aplenty - yet the story is really very similar. I would recommend either one, but not necessarily both unless the patron reading one was hugely engaged with it.
Reading this one, I did think about City of Thieves by David Benioff as a far more realistic story of how a city starves to death (re. Leningrad during WWII), and a title to recommend to a mature reader who liked The Dead and the Gone and was interested.
Showing posts with label z author: Pfeffer (Susan Beth). Show all posts
Showing posts with label z author: Pfeffer (Susan Beth). Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Moonstruck
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Orlando, Fla. : Harcourt, c2006,
1st ed. 337 p. ; 22 cm.
After an implausible start - the moon getting kicked into a dramatically lower orbit by rather unspectacular asteroid impact - this book becomes a very satisfying catastrophe-survival novel. The moon's new orbit creates apocalyptic changes on earth - monster tsunamis, extreme volcanism, earthquakes, climate change, and the general collapse of civilization as we know it.
The story is told in journal entries - also a bit unrealistic due to the level of detail and quoted dialogue - that work well to push the narrative forward chronologically and reveal the thoughts and feelings of the protagonist, Miranda, 16. She and her family in rural Pennsylvania try to survive on the food, water and wood supplies that they have stocked up on while losing electricity, and dealing with a harsh, extended winter brought about by volcanic cooling of the atmosphere.
The novel resonates with the current zeitgeist of unease regarding energy woes, climate disaster, and the way in which disaster can reduce our advanced civilization to a primitive state in short order. Parts of the novel were surprisingly moving - as we follow Miranda and her Mom, college age brother and little brother fight the challenges and each other as they struggle for survival.
There's lots for students and teachers to reflect on. Would be a great supplement to an earth science class that could look at the accuracies and inaccuracies of the events in the novel.
I'd definitely recommend this book, especially for someone who likes apocalyptic fiction. Now I just have to read Cormac McCarthy's The Road and see how I like that one.
Orlando, Fla. : Harcourt, c2006,
1st ed. 337 p. ; 22 cm.
After an implausible start - the moon getting kicked into a dramatically lower orbit by rather unspectacular asteroid impact - this book becomes a very satisfying catastrophe-survival novel. The moon's new orbit creates apocalyptic changes on earth - monster tsunamis, extreme volcanism, earthquakes, climate change, and the general collapse of civilization as we know it.
The story is told in journal entries - also a bit unrealistic due to the level of detail and quoted dialogue - that work well to push the narrative forward chronologically and reveal the thoughts and feelings of the protagonist, Miranda, 16. She and her family in rural Pennsylvania try to survive on the food, water and wood supplies that they have stocked up on while losing electricity, and dealing with a harsh, extended winter brought about by volcanic cooling of the atmosphere.
The novel resonates with the current zeitgeist of unease regarding energy woes, climate disaster, and the way in which disaster can reduce our advanced civilization to a primitive state in short order. Parts of the novel were surprisingly moving - as we follow Miranda and her Mom, college age brother and little brother fight the challenges and each other as they struggle for survival.
There's lots for students and teachers to reflect on. Would be a great supplement to an earth science class that could look at the accuracies and inaccuracies of the events in the novel.
I'd definitely recommend this book, especially for someone who likes apocalyptic fiction. Now I just have to read Cormac McCarthy's The Road and see how I like that one.
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