Life As We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer

Young Adult
Pages: 352
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Release Date: October 1, 2006

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.

What an interesting book. I don't think I liked the story much, but the premise and the dystopian-catastrophic part was really appealing. One thing is for certain, you will be anxious throughout the whole book! It was hard not to feel... hopeless. But at the same time, I started to see things in my life differently. We sometimes don't realize how many things we just give for granted and how terrible the world could be, until we explore dystopian lit. With this book, I started slowly viewing my life differently. If one message is clear from it, it is the importance of being grateful. This alone makes the reading worthwhile.

I'm not a fan of reading journal style books, so that part I didn't like, but the characters and the writing were superb. I am very curious to read the other two books about the same events (not series). Overall, I think it is a must read mostly for the dystopian aspect of it. However, do not expect an action-packed or page-turner, not even close.

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