At the End of Everything
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Based on 1 review
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know the Marieke Nijkamp’s At the End of Everything is set during a deadly plague that's spreading rapidly around the world. When the teens at the Hope Juvenile Treatment Center (which offers neither hope or much treatment) discover the guards and staff have abandoned them, their only hope of survival is to find a way to work together. Not an easy task for a group of teens the juvenile justice system has labeled "delinquent." But they put their differences aside and take on the daunting challenges of finding food, caring for their sick friends and burying their dead. One main character is nonbinary and another is nonverbal. Teens regularly use profanity ("f--k," "a—hole," "bulls--t"), and violence or the threat of violence runs throughout the story. Soldiers shoot a kill a teen during a dispute at a roadblock. Some of the teens at Hope have committed violent offenses (arson, aggravated assault) and a girl remembers paying for a safe place to stay with "stolen kisses and with touches, until the touches became something else."
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What's the Story?
AT THE END OF EVERYTHING is told in the voices of three teens the courts have sent to the Hope Juvenile Treatment Center in rural Arkansas. Some of the teens at Hope are violent offenders, but others have simply run afoul of the juvenile justice system. Emerson was a good Catholic girl who never broke the rules. Until she came out as nonbinary, her parents threw them out and they were arrested for running away. Logan is nonverbal and communicates through sign language she and her twin, Leah, have created. They’re at Hope for setting fire to a warehouse where Logan had been sexually assaulted. Grace has spent her life bouncing around the foster system, and her anger issues have sent her to solitary nine times in the past year. The teens at Hope are initially confused when they discover the staff and guards have vanished, but it's not long before they find out why. A deadly plague is spreading like wildfire through the world. At first, they assume someone will be coming to help them but quickly realize that no one will be coming to their rescue. A small group (mainly the bullying kids at school) decides to leave Hope, but some 20 teens stay behind. Those who stay face some daunting challenges. What happens when they run out of food? Who will care for their friends who are beginning to fall sick? And can they put their differences aside and work together? Grace becomes an unlikely but strong leader, and the worst of times brings out the very best in a group of teens the courts have deemed "delinquent."
Is It Any Good?
This dark dystopian survival story tackles tough issues around juvenile justice reform and discrimination against people who are disabled or nonbinary. While At the End of Everything is well-crafted and exciting, the story of a plague that kills your friends may be a tough read during the time of a global pandemic in which teens have seen their lives and schools disrupted by COVID-19.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how their idea of the juvenile justice system might have changed after reading At the End of Everything. What reforms would you make to the system?
Why do you think dystopian stories are so popular? What's the appeal?
How is At the End of Everything different from other thriller's you've read? Did it keep you on the edge of your seat?
Book Details
- Author: Marieke Nijkamp
- Genre: Mystery
- Topics: Friendship, Great Boy Role Models, Great Girl Role Models, High School
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
- Publication date: January 25, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 14 - 18
- Number of pages: 400
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: January 28, 2022
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