It was like one of those lists on the radio to let you know which schools were having snow days. Only instead of it being school districts in the area, it was whole cities, and it wasn’t just snow.

About the Book

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the Moon closer to the Earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun?

As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all, hope, in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

My Thoughts

I was very tempted just to write ‘GAH!’ give it 4.5 stars and leave it at that, because… well… (well if you have read the book, you will know exactly what I mean!) And to be honest, I still think it would be one of the best, most apt reviews, I’ve written! But I think I should really expound a little bit more than that, to be wholly fair to it.

I listened to the audiobook version, and just like I’ve noticed with previous audiobooks the ‘journal entry’ style narrative is perfectly suited to this type of format. The narration from, Emily Bauer, does an excellent job, of taking Miranda from a fairly typical whiny, self-centred teen, into someone who is prepared to starve and maybe even die, just to give her family a fighting chance.

It’s a  bleak story, oh by god it’s bleak at times, but it is also not without warmth. As Miranda’s world and that of her family, relentlessly shrinks to just one small room, the bonds between the family become everything, and amongst all the depressing elements, it is this positive strand, that draws the listener/reader through, and lifts the story in to one, which considering the subject matter, is a surprising joy to read (or in my case listen to!) .

This review also concludes my 5 books for the Dewey’s Reading Challenge. Dewey, it’s been an honour to read along with you.

Rating:

Other Reviews to Consider

The Hidden Side of a Leaf The Sleepy Reader A High and Hidden Place Bookshelves of Doom Bookfoolery and Babble Reading Derby It’s All About Books Cosy Catastrophe Reading Adventures Hey Lady! Watcha Reading? Jenny’s Books A Patchwork of Books

Life and Times of a “New” New Yorker Nothing of Importance An Adventure in Reading Becky’s Book Reviews Stuff as Dreams are Made On Bottle of Shine Books on the Brain Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-a-holic Some Reads Presenting Lenore 3M Book Addiction

Buy, Life as we Knew it, by Susan Beth Pfeffer, from The Book Depository, with FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING!