Title: The Dead and The Gone
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Pages: 321
Summary: Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event--an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin of horrific climate changes. Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales. When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle.
With haunting themes of family, faith, personal change, and courage, this powerful new novel explores how a young man takes on unimaginable responsibilities.
Review: Seventeen year old Alex Morales is a poor Puerto Rican boy who works hard and responsibly for his age. He plans on completing his senior year of college in his small New York school and going to college. When an asteroid crashes into the moon, however, his careful plans are crashed with it.
At first, nothing seems amiss, after all the moon is thousands of miles away from Earth. But he can't contact his mother, who's a nurse, or his father who's in Puerto Rico for a funeral. Soon panic, tsunamis, floods, and natural disasters cover the Earth, while people struggle to get and save whatever food they can find. Through pain and hardship, Alex tries his best to make sure his 12 year old sister and 15 year old asthmatic sister are well-fed and stay alive.
The Dead and the Gone is written in the third-person point of view, unlike the first book in this series - Life as We Knew It (you don't have to read the series in order), which was written in diary-format. Still, readers feel the personal connection with Alex, as he struggles to live and care for his two younger sisters. For edge-of-your-seat science fiction, I recommend picking up The Dead and the Gone right away.
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This review was done by Hafsah from Icey Books. Thanks so much for the guest review Hafsah! Make sure to take a look at her blog to see more of her reviews!
2 comments:
The Dead and The Gone ws my favorite of the three book in this series. I loved the setting and Alex was a wonderful character. Great review.
I read a book a few years ago called Moonfall by Jack McDevitt, which detailed a similar catastrophe on the moon. It was awesome science fiction, geared for the adult audience.
I hadn't realized that these books by Susan Beth Pfeffer were based on a similar premise. They are definitely going on my shortlist -- to read soon! Any suggestion as to which is the best to read first?
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