Life as we knew it

Susan Beth Pfeffer, 1948-

Book - 2006

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.

Saved in:

Young Adult Area Show me where

YOUNG ADULT FICTION/Pfeffer, Susan Beth
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
Young Adult Area YOUNG ADULT FICTION/Pfeffer, Susan Beth Checked In
Subjects
Published
Orlando, Fla. : Harcourt c2006.
Language
English
Main Author
Susan Beth Pfeffer, 1948- (-)
Edition
1st ed
Item Description
Sequel: The dead & the gone.
Physical Description
337 p. ; 22 cm
ISBN
9780152058265
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

A meteor is going to hit the moon, and 16-year-old Miranda, like the rest of her family and neighbors in rural Pennsylvania, intends to watch it from the comfort of a lawn chair in her yard. But the event is not the benign impact predicted. The moon is knocked closer to Earth, setting off a chain of horrific occurrences: tsunamis, earthquakes, and, later, volcanic eruptions that disrupt life across the planet. Written in the form of Miranda's diary, this disquieting and involving story depicts one family's struggle to survive in a world where food, warmth, and well-being disappear in the blink of an eye. As life goes from bad to worse, Miranda struggles to find a way to survive both mentally and physically, discovering strength in her family members and herself. This novel will inevitably be compared to Meg Rosoff's Printz Award Book, How I Live Now (2004). Pfeffer doesn't write with Rosoff's startling eloquence, and her setup is not as smooth (Why don't scientists predict the possibility of this outcome?). But Miranda and her family are much more familiar than Rosoff's characters, and readers will respond to the authenticity and immediacy of their plight. Each page is filled with events both wearying and terrifying and infused with honest emotions. Pfeffer brings cataclysmic tragedy very close. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2006 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

When an asteroid collides with the moon, causing natural disasters tidal waves, volcanoes, earthquakes and climate changes on Earth, life as 16-year-old Miranda knows it will never be the same. Suddenly, things she has taken for granted electricity, news from the outside world and three square meals a day are a thing of the past. Thanks to her mother's foresight and preparedness, Miranda and her two brothers are better off than many families in their Pennsylvania community. They have a pantry filled with canned goods and plenty of logs to fuel their wood-burning stove. Yet their situation becomes more critical as other unexpected disasters arise. The book may be lengthy, but most readers will find it absorbing from first page to last. This survival tale by the author of The Year Without Michael celebrates the fortitude and resourcefulness of human beings during critical times. The story unfolds through Miranda's journal entries, from May, when the asteroid strikes, to the following March. Though the entries paint a grim picture of a rapidly shrinking civilization ("I write stuff down in here and I don't read it. Things are bad enough without having to remind myself of just how bad things are," she explains), her words also evoke a strain of hope which proves to be her most essential survival tool. Miranda's changing priorities, undying love for her family and heightened appreciation of simple pleasures will likely provoke discussion and inspire gratitude for life as we know it now. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 6-8-Pfeffer tones down the terror, but otherwise crafts a frighteningly plausible account of the local effects of a near-future worldwide catastrophe. The prospect of an asteroid hitting the Moon is just a mildly interesting news item to Pennsylvania teenager Miranda, for whom a date for the prom and the personality changes in her born-again friend, Megan, are more immediate concerns. Her priorities undergo a radical change, however, when that collision shifts the Moon into a closer orbit, causing violent earthquakes, massive tsunamis, millions of deaths, and an upsurge in volcanism. Thanks to frantic preparations by her quick-thinking mother, Miranda's family is in better shape than many as utilities and public services break down in stages, wild storms bring extremes of temperature, and outbreaks of disease turn the hospital into a dead zone. In Miranda's day-by-day journal entries, however, Pfeffer keeps nearly all of the death and explicit violence offstage, focusing instead on the stresses of spending months huddled in increasingly confined quarters, watching supplies dwindle, and wondering whether there will be any future to make the effort worthwhile. The author provides a glimmer of hope at the end, but readers will still be left stunned and thoughtful.-John Peters, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

(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. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

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.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

oneMay 7Lisa is pregnant.Dad called around 11 oclock to let us know. Only Mom had already taken Jonny to his baseball practice and of course Matt isnt home from college yet, so I was alone to get the big news.The baby is due in December, Dad crowed, like he was the first guy in the history of the world with a younger second wife about to have a baby. Isnt that great! Youre going to have a little brother or sister. Of course its too soon to tell what its going to be, but as soon as we know, well tell you. I wouldnt mind another daughter myself. The first one I had turned out so wonderfully. Howd you like a baby sister?I had no idea. When did you find out? I asked.Yesterday afternoon, Dad said. I would have called you right away but, well, we celebrated. You can understand that, cant you, honey? A little private time for Lisa and me before letting the world know.Of course, Daddy, I said. Has Lisa told her family?First thing this morning, he replied. Her parents are thrilled. Their first grandchild. Theyre coming for a couple of weeks in July, before you and Jonny visit.Are you going to call Matt and tell him? I asked. Or do you want me to?Oh no, Ill call, Dad said. Hes busy studying for his finals. Hell be glad for the interruption.Its great news, Dad, I said, because I knew I was supposed to. Be sure to tell Lisa how happy I am for her. And you, too. For both of you.You tell her yourself, Dad said. Here she is.Dad muffled the phone for a second so he could whisper something to Lisa and then she took the phone. Miranda, she said. Isnt it exciting!Very, I said. Its wonderful news. Im really happy for you and Dad.I was thinking, she said. Well, I know its way too soon and I havent even discussed this with your father yet, but would you like to be the babys godmother? You dont have to answer right away, but do think about it, all right?Thats the problem I have with Lisa. Whenever I want to get mad at her, or just irritated because she really can be immensely irritating, she goes and does something nice. And then I can understand why Daddy married her.Of course Ill think about it, I said. You and Daddy think about it also.We dont have to give it any more thought, she said. You should see the glow on your fathers face. I dont think he could be any happier.I couldnt, Dad said, and I could tell from his laughter that hed grabbed the phone away from Lisa. Miranda, please say yes. It would mean so much to us for you to be the babys godmother.So I said yes. I couldnt exactly say no.After that we chatted for a while. I told Dad about my last swim meet and how I was doing in school. Mom still hadnt come back by the time I finally got off the phone, so I went online to see whats new with figure skating. The hot topic at Brandon Erlichs fan site is how good his chances are to win Olympic gold. Most people think not very, but a lot of us think he has a real shot at medaling and ice is slippery and you never know.I think Excerpted from Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.