Summer days... and nights

It's summer... so it's time for another Susan Beth Pfeffer, This World We Live In. This one is a sequel to the first two books, Life As We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone. Miranda is 17 now, and her world seems to be thawing from the winter of starvation that her family has endured in a small Pennsylvania town. Although the sun hasn't been able to break through the ash-filled clouds, some food is becoming available, and the electricity comes on sometimes. Matthew and John are itching to travel and have adventures, but their mother seems weaker from her self-enforced starvation. Warm days, more food, and returning strength means they'll have more contact with others who have survived the earthly results of a change in the moon's orbit, including Alex and Julie Morales.

More Celestial Events

Once again, it's meteor shower time - this time, the Leonids. If you're in North America, go outside right now, and just hang out until 3:00 a.m. For hints about watching the leonids, go to redOrbit.com.

While you're watching, think about Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer, and hope you don't see any changes in the moon! In her diary, 16-year-old Miranda describes her life in small-town Pennsylvania. It's pretty routine: high school homework, the tragedy of not being asked to the prom, and irritation with her divorced parents and baseball-fanatic little brother. She has stopped figure-skating, and become a swimmer, and she plans to join the volleyball team for her Junior year.

When an asteroid hits the moon (hmmm, speak of shooting rockets at teh moon...), it causes a chain reaction of events. The moon shifts in orbit, causing massive tsunamis that wipe out most coastal cities. Earthquakes cause more havoc, then intense electrical storms and volcanic activity. Communication and transportation grind to a halt, so Miranda and her family plant a family garden and then live off canned goods. Entertainment is books and board games and singing. When food has to be rationed, Miranda has to think about who will be allowed to survive and who will die as a result. Family takes on new meaning for her.

My student book club is reading this now, and it's the first book that has re-captured the interest of students who loved The Hunger Games last year!