This World We Live In, by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. 239 pp. 978-0-547-24804-2.
... the conclusion of Miranda and Alex's stories, and the conclusion of The Last Survivors Trilogy.
At 239 pp, This World We Live In is a much shorter read than either Miranda's or Alex's initial entries into the trilogy. Picking up about a month after the end of Life As We Knew It, and about four months after the end of The Dead and the Gone, the third book in the series brings together all of the major characters from the first two books. Going back to narration via Miranda's diary, we're once again seeing everything from her perspective in her small town in Pennsylvania. At the beginning of the novel, Miranda's brothers Matt and Jon leave for a week to see if they can catch any fish. When they return, Miranda's older brother Matt brings with him a woman that he introduces as Syl, his wife. This adds more strain onto the already precarious food situation that the Evans family faces. On top of that, a few weeks later Miranda's father returns to town, bringing with him his wife Lisa, their newborn son Gabriel, their friend Charlie, and Alex and Julie.
This is by far and away the weakest book in the trilogy. First of all, it's never really clear how Alex and Julie happened to join up with Miranda's father. Secondly, nothing really happens until the very end, except for people getting short with each other over the lack of resources. I guess the first two books showed the strength of human endurance, love and altruism, as all of the major characters in the first two books made large sacrifices for the well-being of their loved ones. Perhaps this love and altruism is starting to wear thin, because by the first anniversary of the moon disaster, people sure are showing their worst sides. Matt, the previously strong and capable heroic older brother, becomes selfish and petty. Miranda's mom, previously generous and loving, becomes miserly with their resources and turns into a reclusive shut-in. Miranda shows her age as a 17-year-old girl who's in way over her head. Alex is obsessed with sending Julie to a nunnery, despite the fact that everyone else sees that that's an awful idea. Despite the explanations offered throughout the whole book, Alex's reasoning never really makes sense to me. Maybe that was the point?
By the end of the book, I pretty much wanted Matt to go away and never return, and I didn't really care what happened to Dad and Lisa, except that I knew that I never wanted to read about another of their prayer circles. Perhaps Alex's religion felt more genuine to me, because it's a really central part of who he is, but the prayers of Miranda's father and Lisa seemed kind of fake and desperate.
I also found it a little implausible how quickly Miranda and Alex fall in love. (This does not count as a spoiler, because they're a boy and girl of the same age and this is teen fiction, after all) I guess that in this new world, you live hard and you live fast, and you take whatever chances you can get. It probably doesn't hurt that this is the first non-relative boy her age that Miranda has seen in over a year.
The book flap says that after "a devastating tornado hits the town", then "Miranda makes a decision that will change their lives forever". Despite the fact that it's implied that this tornado is a major event, it doesn't actually happen until pg 212 of 239. The major decision that Miranda makes probably didn't change anyone's life but her own, as the consequences of the decision would have come about regardless of whether Miranda had intervened. So basically, the first 212 pages of this book are just filled with people milling around arguing about food, and the last 27 pages just feel forced and contrived. I can't help but feel like Pfeffer just wanted to be over and done with this trilogy, because the pacing is really off, the plot is contrived and lame, and the characters just aren't all there. The addition of the totally pointless characters of Syl and Charlie take something away from the book too, as they draw the reader's attention away from the people we really care about, namely, Miranda and Alex.
I will say a few things in praise of this book. Bravo to Pfeffer for having the guts to definitively END a successful and probably fairly lucrative teen/young adult series, and to actually show that some journeys don't end with "all was well". There are always consequences, and happy endings aren't the only way to end young adult fiction. Most teens can handle something other than a shiny happy ending, and if they can't handle grittier stories, then I'm astonished they made it to book three of this trilogy. Anyway, it's been refreshing seeing a teen fiction trilogy that doesn't pull its punches, despite the fact that the ending disappointed me.
I would still recommend reading the first two books in the trilogy, but unless you're really desperate to find out what happens after those books, I'd skip this. If you really do want to read it, it's a super fast read (took me less than two hours).
2/5 stars
Showing posts with label Last Survivors Trilogy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Last Survivors Trilogy. Show all posts
Saturday, November 6, 2010
The Dead and the Gone, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Dead and the Gone, by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. 308 pp. 978-0-547-25855-3.
... in which we see the events from Life As We Knew It from the perspective of a group of teenagers in New York City.
The Dead and the Gone is a companion novel to Life As We Knew It, meaning that it's not strictly necessary to read one before the other. However, the explanation of the moon's movement is more clearly described in LAWKT, so I'd still recommend reading that first. It's the second book in the trilogy sometimes called The Last Survivors Trilogy, and sometimes called the Moon Crash trilogy. I prefer Moon Crash, but Amazon goes with The Last Survivors, so that's what I'll use.
Instead of being told in diary format, The Dead and the Gone is written in third person format from the perspective of 17-year-old Alex Morales. Alex lives in New York City with his parents and two younger sisters. The Puerto Rican family is devoutly Catholic, and it's this faith that holds them together. When the moon moved closer to the Earth, the family was scattered and unable to reach each other. Alex's father was in Puerto Rico, which was devastated by the tsunamis. Alex's mother was called in to work at a hospital, but never returned home. Alex's older brother was a Marine stationed in California, leaving Alex as the head of the family and responsible for caring for his 14- and 12-year-old sisters, Briana and Julie.
Unlike Miranda's family in semi-rural Pennsylvania, the Morales family watches events unfold in a large city setting. Being in a large city has its perks... more government food handouts, more people to turn to for help, but it also has its drawbacks... more gangs, more crime, and eventually, more corpses. As he fights for his family's survival, Alex is forced to do things he didn't think he would ever do.
Alex's story is grittier than Miranda's, if only for the fact that Alex is alone without parents in a large city. The rich and well-connected people flee the city, leaving behind the desperate, less wealthy people. Alex and his sisters manage to stay better fed than Miranda's family, through government handouts, church assistance, and Alex's ingenuity on the streets. Through the struggle to survive, however, Alex and his youngest sister Julie begin to slowly drift away from their Catholic ideals. They steal from the vacant apartments of their neighbors, and Alex steals from the fresh corpses that line the street. Slowly, Alex begins to lose his faith, bit by bit.
The only religion in Life As We Knew It was seen through the eyes of the non-religious Miranda, and it was an example of religious extremism at its worse. The religion in The Dead and the Gone, however, is quite a bit different. Unlike the church that Miranda knows, the Catholic Church in New York City feeds its congregation as much as it can, and makes every possible attempt to keep its schools open and to reunite separated families. Alex's crisis of faith is approached from a completely different angle, one that feels more genuine than the angle used in the previous book.
Perhaps because it wasn't written in diary format, I had a harder time connecting with Alex. It could also be that the cast of characters was much larger, and Alex had a lot more resting on his shoulders. I have an easier time connecting with a girl who's helping her mother, rather than a boy who is essentially the only parent his sisters have left. Although Alex's situation is grimmer than Miranda's, I felt Miranda's dread and despair more than I feel Alex's. Despite this, I think Alex's story is a little more compelling than Miranda's. Miranda had only the interaction with her mothers and brothers while they were essentially confined to a single room; Alex has interaction with his family, friends, and various other connections.
I like the fact that Pfeffer put us in a completely different setting for this book. The similarities and differences between Miranda's situation and Alex's situation make for really interesting reading, though I'd still recommend reading Life As We Knew It first.
4/5 stars
... in which we see the events from Life As We Knew It from the perspective of a group of teenagers in New York City.
The Dead and the Gone is a companion novel to Life As We Knew It, meaning that it's not strictly necessary to read one before the other. However, the explanation of the moon's movement is more clearly described in LAWKT, so I'd still recommend reading that first. It's the second book in the trilogy sometimes called The Last Survivors Trilogy, and sometimes called the Moon Crash trilogy. I prefer Moon Crash, but Amazon goes with The Last Survivors, so that's what I'll use.
Instead of being told in diary format, The Dead and the Gone is written in third person format from the perspective of 17-year-old Alex Morales. Alex lives in New York City with his parents and two younger sisters. The Puerto Rican family is devoutly Catholic, and it's this faith that holds them together. When the moon moved closer to the Earth, the family was scattered and unable to reach each other. Alex's father was in Puerto Rico, which was devastated by the tsunamis. Alex's mother was called in to work at a hospital, but never returned home. Alex's older brother was a Marine stationed in California, leaving Alex as the head of the family and responsible for caring for his 14- and 12-year-old sisters, Briana and Julie.
Unlike Miranda's family in semi-rural Pennsylvania, the Morales family watches events unfold in a large city setting. Being in a large city has its perks... more government food handouts, more people to turn to for help, but it also has its drawbacks... more gangs, more crime, and eventually, more corpses. As he fights for his family's survival, Alex is forced to do things he didn't think he would ever do.
Alex's story is grittier than Miranda's, if only for the fact that Alex is alone without parents in a large city. The rich and well-connected people flee the city, leaving behind the desperate, less wealthy people. Alex and his sisters manage to stay better fed than Miranda's family, through government handouts, church assistance, and Alex's ingenuity on the streets. Through the struggle to survive, however, Alex and his youngest sister Julie begin to slowly drift away from their Catholic ideals. They steal from the vacant apartments of their neighbors, and Alex steals from the fresh corpses that line the street. Slowly, Alex begins to lose his faith, bit by bit.
The only religion in Life As We Knew It was seen through the eyes of the non-religious Miranda, and it was an example of religious extremism at its worse. The religion in The Dead and the Gone, however, is quite a bit different. Unlike the church that Miranda knows, the Catholic Church in New York City feeds its congregation as much as it can, and makes every possible attempt to keep its schools open and to reunite separated families. Alex's crisis of faith is approached from a completely different angle, one that feels more genuine than the angle used in the previous book.
Perhaps because it wasn't written in diary format, I had a harder time connecting with Alex. It could also be that the cast of characters was much larger, and Alex had a lot more resting on his shoulders. I have an easier time connecting with a girl who's helping her mother, rather than a boy who is essentially the only parent his sisters have left. Although Alex's situation is grimmer than Miranda's, I felt Miranda's dread and despair more than I feel Alex's. Despite this, I think Alex's story is a little more compelling than Miranda's. Miranda had only the interaction with her mothers and brothers while they were essentially confined to a single room; Alex has interaction with his family, friends, and various other connections.
I like the fact that Pfeffer put us in a completely different setting for this book. The similarities and differences between Miranda's situation and Alex's situation make for really interesting reading, though I'd still recommend reading Life As We Knew It first.
4/5 stars
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. 337 pp. 978-0-15-206154-8.
... in which the moon is knocked closer to the Earth, causing catastrophic events on Earth and the end of life as we knew it.
The difficulty in reading science fiction set in current times on our Earth is that it is sometimes difficult to separate the science from the story. This book is not really strictly science fiction; perhaps it's more accurate to call it dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction with a bit of a sci-fi streak in the beginning. However, considering that this is a book intended for teen readers, I guess scientific accuracy can be somewhat ignored.
The story is told in diary format, written by 15-year-old Miranda. Early on, Miranda writes about very 15-year-old-American-girl troubles: fights with friends, worries about math tests, fretting over boys, angsting over her parents' divorce and her father's subsequent remarriage and baby-on-the-way. In the backdrop is a coming astronomical event that has the whole world excited: a giant asteroid is headed towards Earth, and will collide with the moon. Astronomers say that the collision will be visible with the naked eye, and pretty spectacular if you've got a pair of binoculars or a telescope. Unfortunately, the astronomers miscalculated and the moon was knocked off its axis and was bumped significantly closer to Earth. This caused a number of alarming problems: the tides were so affected by the moon's gravitational pull that 20-ft tsunamis drowned the coasts, satellites were knocked off of their orbits and cell service was lost, volcanoes began erupting with greater frequency, and earthquakes became commonplace.
The story focuses on Miranda and her family (mom, college age brother, younger brother) and their struggle to survive. The volcanic activity leads to nuclear winter. Electricity becomes a thing of the past. Flu pandemics decimate the population. Food becomes a very scarce commodity.
Let us start with the science part of the book. The easiest to accept consequence is the disruption of satellite service. Satellites are dinky little things, when compared to the moon, so I can see them getting thrown out of whack by the moon. However, the idea of the moon moving at all is what trips me up. First of all, Newton's first law of motion states that an object in motion will continue moving in a straight line until acted on by an outside force. Assuming that the asteroid WAS large enough and forceful enough to move the moon. The moon is in space (essentially frictionless) and subjected to the gravitational pull. Anyone who has had physics knows that the force of the pull of the Earth on the moon is equal to the force of the pull of the moon on the Earth; we also know that the Earth is much more massive (by two orders of magnitude), so will have a greater amount of inertia. My point here is: if the moon got bumped that forcefully, why did it move a little closer to the Earth and then stop? What prevented it from just continuing on its merry way and just slamming into the planet's surface? I suppose that wouldn't make for much of a story, as everyone would just be dead if that happened.
I will accept the world-wide tsunamis as a believable consequence of the moon moving closer to the planet. However, I draw the line at accepting that the moon's gravitational pull is pulling magma to the surface of the crust and causing more volcanic activity, even in areas that were previously inactive. I will also draw the line at the earthquakes. But of all of these consequences, it's the volcanoes that make the biggest impact on humans, so I suppose we will have to suspend disbelief and go with it, for the sake of the storyline.
Fortunately, after the first few chapters, the science of the whole problem becomes irrelevant, and the story and characters are so well developed and well written that you (almost) forget all about the gaping science holes. Miranda starts out as a pretty typical 15 year old, including all of the annoying traits that are common in teens like her. However, she has a great deal of character development over the course of the novel, as the unique circumstances necessitate a great deal of maturation on her part.
In terms of the problems that Miranda's family faces, this is by far and away one of the bleaker novels I have read, and it was easy to forget that I was reading a book intended for teenagers. It starts out small: power outages, no phone service, panic at the grocery store. It quickly escalates: the volcanoes are causing a nuclear winter effect that forces temperatures down to well below freezing in August. Food is scarce. Gas is $10/gallon and the price is still rising. Over the course of the winter, Miranda's family has to learn to not only avoid freezing to death, but to also avoid starvation. By the end of the novel, several members of the family are eating a can of vegetables only every few days.
The book explores some very dark themes. It explores the idea of sexual exploitation (though not at all explicitly) when one of Miranda's teenage friends runs off to safer locales with a 40 year old man. It shows the effects of religious zeal in times of extreme crisis. And it brings up the question: what should a mother do with very limited food resources and three of her kids to feed? Does she feed them all and condemn them all to eventual starvation? Or does she pick the one who is most likely to survive, and focus the resources on that one?
For anyone who can turn a blind eye to an implausible setup and instead focus on the individual people, this is a recommended read. It's bleak, and it's dark, but not necessarily depressing. Certainly if you are a fan of post-apocalyptic stories, you would enjoy this.
Now I am going to fill my pantry with canned goods and bottled water.
4/5 stars
... in which the moon is knocked closer to the Earth, causing catastrophic events on Earth and the end of life as we knew it.
The difficulty in reading science fiction set in current times on our Earth is that it is sometimes difficult to separate the science from the story. This book is not really strictly science fiction; perhaps it's more accurate to call it dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction with a bit of a sci-fi streak in the beginning. However, considering that this is a book intended for teen readers, I guess scientific accuracy can be somewhat ignored.
The story is told in diary format, written by 15-year-old Miranda. Early on, Miranda writes about very 15-year-old-American-girl troubles: fights with friends, worries about math tests, fretting over boys, angsting over her parents' divorce and her father's subsequent remarriage and baby-on-the-way. In the backdrop is a coming astronomical event that has the whole world excited: a giant asteroid is headed towards Earth, and will collide with the moon. Astronomers say that the collision will be visible with the naked eye, and pretty spectacular if you've got a pair of binoculars or a telescope. Unfortunately, the astronomers miscalculated and the moon was knocked off its axis and was bumped significantly closer to Earth. This caused a number of alarming problems: the tides were so affected by the moon's gravitational pull that 20-ft tsunamis drowned the coasts, satellites were knocked off of their orbits and cell service was lost, volcanoes began erupting with greater frequency, and earthquakes became commonplace.
The story focuses on Miranda and her family (mom, college age brother, younger brother) and their struggle to survive. The volcanic activity leads to nuclear winter. Electricity becomes a thing of the past. Flu pandemics decimate the population. Food becomes a very scarce commodity.
Let us start with the science part of the book. The easiest to accept consequence is the disruption of satellite service. Satellites are dinky little things, when compared to the moon, so I can see them getting thrown out of whack by the moon. However, the idea of the moon moving at all is what trips me up. First of all, Newton's first law of motion states that an object in motion will continue moving in a straight line until acted on by an outside force. Assuming that the asteroid WAS large enough and forceful enough to move the moon. The moon is in space (essentially frictionless) and subjected to the gravitational pull. Anyone who has had physics knows that the force of the pull of the Earth on the moon is equal to the force of the pull of the moon on the Earth; we also know that the Earth is much more massive (by two orders of magnitude), so will have a greater amount of inertia. My point here is: if the moon got bumped that forcefully, why did it move a little closer to the Earth and then stop? What prevented it from just continuing on its merry way and just slamming into the planet's surface? I suppose that wouldn't make for much of a story, as everyone would just be dead if that happened.
I will accept the world-wide tsunamis as a believable consequence of the moon moving closer to the planet. However, I draw the line at accepting that the moon's gravitational pull is pulling magma to the surface of the crust and causing more volcanic activity, even in areas that were previously inactive. I will also draw the line at the earthquakes. But of all of these consequences, it's the volcanoes that make the biggest impact on humans, so I suppose we will have to suspend disbelief and go with it, for the sake of the storyline.
Fortunately, after the first few chapters, the science of the whole problem becomes irrelevant, and the story and characters are so well developed and well written that you (almost) forget all about the gaping science holes. Miranda starts out as a pretty typical 15 year old, including all of the annoying traits that are common in teens like her. However, she has a great deal of character development over the course of the novel, as the unique circumstances necessitate a great deal of maturation on her part.
In terms of the problems that Miranda's family faces, this is by far and away one of the bleaker novels I have read, and it was easy to forget that I was reading a book intended for teenagers. It starts out small: power outages, no phone service, panic at the grocery store. It quickly escalates: the volcanoes are causing a nuclear winter effect that forces temperatures down to well below freezing in August. Food is scarce. Gas is $10/gallon and the price is still rising. Over the course of the winter, Miranda's family has to learn to not only avoid freezing to death, but to also avoid starvation. By the end of the novel, several members of the family are eating a can of vegetables only every few days.
The book explores some very dark themes. It explores the idea of sexual exploitation (though not at all explicitly) when one of Miranda's teenage friends runs off to safer locales with a 40 year old man. It shows the effects of religious zeal in times of extreme crisis. And it brings up the question: what should a mother do with very limited food resources and three of her kids to feed? Does she feed them all and condemn them all to eventual starvation? Or does she pick the one who is most likely to survive, and focus the resources on that one?
For anyone who can turn a blind eye to an implausible setup and instead focus on the individual people, this is a recommended read. It's bleak, and it's dark, but not necessarily depressing. Certainly if you are a fan of post-apocalyptic stories, you would enjoy this.
Now I am going to fill my pantry with canned goods and bottled water.
4/5 stars
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