Young Adult Literature without Apology

Amy's assessment of contemporary young adult literature, organized by author and title, censored by noone.

Realistic | Romance | Science Fiction | Historical Fiction | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

Pfeffer, Susan Beth (2006). Life as we Knew It. NY: Harcourt. ISBN: 0152058265. 352 pages.

Anybody besides me remember Susan Beth Pfeffer? The "Portraits of Little Women" series? The "Sebastian Sisters" series? Kid Power? Fantasy Summer? All right, maybe it's just me. Anyway: forget what you knew about the Susan Beth Pfeffer of your 1980s past: this latest book by the longtime YA author will blow you away. "Fantasy summer," indeed.

Everyone in Miranda's town is excited about the upcoming lunar event: scientists have predicted that an asteroid will hit the moon and the world is keen to watch what is supposed to be a safe and distant fluke. When the asteroid pushes the moon into a closer orbit, the earth changes forever. First, the new position of the moon causes incredible flooding of all coastal areas; then, the gravity alteration caused by the new lunar position encourages earthquakes and volcanic erruptions. Miranda is lucky, however; she, her mother and her two brothers acted quickly to stockpile food, water and wood for the upcoming trouble. What follows is the description of a world gradually falling apart: citizens begin leaving town, looking for safer (read: inland) ground, stores close or are looted, electricity fails and the mail eventually stops coming. As their food supply dwindles, Miranda finds herself caring for her family and struggling to survive. As their heat, water and electricity fail, Miranda and her family move from their own rooms to sleeping quarters in the kitchen and sunroom and, finally, cloister themselves in the one room in the home with a wood stove. This literal coming together of family is mirrored in the characters' changing attitudes about each other, themselves, and what each would do to survive. Like How I Live Now, this is a dystopian story of survival on a macro level. Though not nearly as brutal as Rosoff's novel of war, Pfeffer's book lingers in the mind. What to do when the luxuries of modern life mean nothing?