Loading…
Life as We Knew It
Add a Comment
Add Tags
Add More
Add to my Collection
Mark for Later
Save to a ListDetails
Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
Miranda - (Female) Affected by Earth's natural disasters; life changes as she knew it;
The Horn Book
(Middle School, High School) ""It was still our moon and it was still just a big dead rock in the sky, but it wasn't benign anymore,"" sixteen-year-old Miranda writes in her journal after an asteroid hits the moon and knocks it closer toward Earth. The immediate result of this event is global devastation in the form of tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, and other cataclysmic natural disasters. But Pfeffer's taut survival story is effective not because it witnesses these catastrophes firsthand but because it doesn't. Miranda, her mother, and two brothers live in Pennsylvania, away from the coasts, where the initial number of casualties is rumored (all cable TV, Internet, and cell-phone service has been knocked out) to be almost unthinkable. Miranda's journal entries provide a riveting account of how lack of information, resources, and, subsequently, hope for the future shrink her world. ""We're dyingin increments,"" she tells her older brother as their stockpile of food and water diminishes and ash from distant erupting volcanoes blocks the sun, producing wintry temperatures in August. Against mounting dismal conditions, the family's drawing together to survive and find meaning in their altered lives is all the more triumphant and makes the eventual small signs that conditions will improve all the sweeter. Copyright 2006 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Reviews
Sixteen-year-old Miranda begins a daily ten-month diary documenting the survival ordeal her rural Pennsylvania family endures when a large meteor's collision with the moon brings on destruction of the modern world and all its technological conveniences. The change in the moon's gravitational pull begins to cause natural havoc around the globe in the form of catastrophic tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes and other weather-related disasters. Miranda's American teen view gradually alters as personal security, physical strength and health become priorities. Pfeffer paints a gruesome and often depressing drama as conditions become increasingly difficult and dangerous with the dwindling of public and private services. Miranda's daily litany of cutting firewood, rationing canned meals, short tempers flaring in a one-room confinement is offset by lots of heart-to-heart talks about life and its true significance with her mother, older brother and religiously devout best friend. Death is a constant threat, and Pfeffer instills despair right to the end but is cognizant to provide a ray of hope with a promising conclusion. Plausible science fiction with a frighteningly realistic reminder of recent tragedies here and abroad. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Community Activity
Summaries
There are no summaries for this title.
Quotes
There are no quotes for this title.
Notices
There are no notices for this title.
Age
Find it at SCCL
Connect With Others
Other users with this title in their collections
Comments
A very orginal Sci-fi, that really gets you thinking about what you would do if that really happened. I asked my geography teacher about it and she said that the events could happen if the moon was knocked closer to the earth. A great read, can't wait to read the next 2 books. ;)
Really depressing read but overall it was okay.
This was a really gripping book and made me seriously think about what would happen if a major worldwide disaster were to occur. It even gave me some handy survival tips!
But......I was left feeling unsatisfied at the end. So much is left unanswered (what happened to her father and his wife?) and I felt it just ended suddenly. Still......a very good read!