FINISHED:

Pfeffer, Susan Beth. (2008). The dead and the gone. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.

[LOVED this one - it still haunts me. I thought it was so great that I nominated it for inclusion in the ACL end of the year Distinguished Books list. Here's the review I wrote for ACL:

A meteor has struck the moon, knocking it out of it’s normal orbit, and thus causing catastrophic tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions around the world. As both of their parents were away at the time a tsunami hit the east coast, 17-year-old Alex and his two younger sisters are forced to live through the ensuing devastation in New York City alone, even as the sun disappears (forever?) behind a layer of ash, and dead bodies begin to litter the streets. While many flee New York for the country where they believe things are less dire, Alex and his sisters remain in the city, hopeful that their parents will be able to find them if they happen to return, going to great lengths to find food and warmth. Brilliantly told, we are right there with Alex, only finding out tiny bits and pieces of what is happening in New York and the rest of the world as he does through occasional radio transmissions and the words of others. A companion novel to Pfeffer’s own Life As We Knew It (Harcourt, 2006), this is a harrowing, yet powerful, tale of the lengths that a young man must go through in order to survive and protect his family in a time of crisis and uncertainty. Alex is a complex character, frightened and unsure, yet selfless and strong, forced to make many difficult decisions on his own. Disturbing (Alex and a friend go “body shopping” on Monday mornings, stripping dead bodies of valuables which they can trade for food) and heartbreaking (Alex walks among the unidentified dead bodies being held in Yankee Stadium to see if any of them are his mother), this is a frightening, post-Katrina examination of how things might play out in the event of a worldwide catastrophe. Less science fiction and more actually within the realm of possibility, this novel is sure to linger with the reader long after they’ve put it down.]

STARTED:
Pfeffer, Susan Beth. (2006). Life as we knew it. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.

[Had to read the previously published "companion" novel.]

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