Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this is a grim and, at times, rather gruesome book, with many deaths, including some major characters, and details about decomposing and rat-eaten bodies. This book will be terrifying to some kids, especially those without the experience to put it in context. Young readers may want to know more about their own family's readiness for disaster, and about the likelihood of these types of events occurring.
Families who read this book could discuss their own disaster plans, and what could be done to make them feel more ready. How can we stay safe and together in the event of an emergency? Where should we go? What emergency supplies do we have, and where are they kept? What is the likelihood of these types of events taking place? What are more likely scenarios that might cause this type of disruption to normal life? How would we cope with them? And the bigger questions raised here: how far would you go to survive? Would you share? Steal? Hoard? What happens to our humanity in the face of imminent extinction?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
This is not really a sequel, but a standalone book covering the same worldwide events from a different point of view from the white, suburban family in Life as We Knew It. This one involves three working-class Puerto Rican teen siblings in Manhattan, whose parents disappear on the first day of the disaster. This change introduces both a grittier level of grimness (the first book didn't have rat-eaten bodies rotting in the streets or stadiums full of naked corpses) and some new issues, such as class differences, and the place of faith and the church community in the face of overwhelming disaster.
Like the first book, though, big, discussion-worthy themes of response to climate change, the collapse of the energy infrastructure, and the role of the individual within the community are carried by a taut, suspenseful, and realistic story of individual and family survival. This, of course, makes it ideal for middle and high school discussion groups, which can be enhanced by the author's notes (on her blog, see link in More Choices section) about the even more hair-raising elements she chose to leave out. Profoundly disturbing, the book will make many readers want to put it down -- but the relentless story won't let them.
From The Book
It was a scene unlike any Alex could have imagined. If he looked up, it was Yankee Stadium, filled with empty seats. But if he looked at eye level, it was hell.
Alex made the sign of the cross and prayed for strength. All around the playing field were corpses, lying head to toe in neat rows with just space enough for one person to walk between them. How many bodies were there? Hundreds? Thousands?
Plot Summary:
In Life as We Knew It, the moon was pushed closer to the earth by a meteor, causing complete disruption to Earth's tides, weather, and infrastructure. This sequel covers the same events from the point of view of three Puerto Rican teens living in New York City, who must survive after their parents disappear and are presumed dead, and lawlessness and disease sweep the darkened, isolated city.
Related Books:
Other Books by Susan Beth Pfeffer:
Family of Strangers
Twice Taken
The Trouble with Wishes
Life as We Knew It
Surviving Disaster:
The Devil's Children by Peter Dickinson
Weather Eye by Lesley Howarth
Earthquake Terror by Peg Kehret
The Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh
Shade's Children by Garth Nix
Among the Hidden: Shadow Children, Book 1 by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906 by Deborah Hopkinson
Related Web sites:
Author's Blog
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Sexual ContentA young girl is grabbed by a man who attempts to drag her into a park where, it is assumed, he will rape her, but she is rescued first. The sounds of lovemaking are heard through a window, Playboy centerfolds and "get[ting] laid" are mentioned. |
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ViolenceMany deaths, including main characters. Bodies are left to decompose and be eaten by rats; main characters strip the bodies for goods to barter; Alex goes to a stadium filled with nude, dead, decomposing bodies to look for his mother. In a food riot a baby and old man are trampled; a man leaps to his death from a high window. |
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Social BehaviorThe main characters live in a family with rigidly gender-defined roles, but after the disaster, all of their efforts go towards protecting and caring for one another. In doing so, they face moral dilemmas, including stealing from bodies and apartments. |
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CommercialismFood and drink brands mentioned. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoBeer, vodka, cigarettes, and cigars are bartered; a mother becomes an alcoholic with her son providing her with booze. |
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