What We’re Reading

Life As We Knew It | Susan Beth Pfeffer

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When the world learns that the moon is going to be hit by an asteroid, the reaction is excitement. Finally, everyone alive will get to see something that’s happened throughout history but never truly been witnessed. On Miranda’s road, like many others, families come out to the street for a better view of the event. But soon after her brother announces he can see the asteroid coming through the telescope, things go from spectacular to disaster.

After the hit, everyone on the ground is left with a disturbing sight: the moon, asked, more visible, and far too close. Soon after, the flooding begins. Entire coasts are wiped out. Earthquakes follow. And eventually, fires.

When Miranda’s mother shows up at school soaking wet during a storm, she doesn’t know what to think. When they’re racing around the supermarket stocking up on everything they can, she thinks her mother is definitely over reacting. But as life grows less and less normal, she begins to understand that it was her mother’s quick thinking and foresight that’s enabling them to survive.

Unsure why she’s keeping a diary, Miranda nevertheless writes nearly every day, documenting the good times, the exciting days, and the trauma. Everything.

Quite often, while reading, I’d pause, look up, and be quite surprised to see the HDTV playing on, realize the lights were working, and that there was a fridge full of food. While I certainly hope this creative tale never turns into reality, I have to think it’s a possibility, which makes it all the more gripping.

Miranda and her family suffer through what sometimes seems more than their fair share of ups and downs, but through it all they stick together, showing us that love and perseverance can help you through even the most unimaginable times.

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Life As We Knew It | Susan Beth Pfeffer

Sixteen-year-old Miranda Evans has a pretty normal life. She’s a swimmer and an ice-skater; she has two brothers - one older and one younger; she has two best friends and is an average student.

But then everything changes.

When an asteroid hits the moon and knocks it out of orbit everything on Earth is affected. The moon’s control over the tides causes massive tsunamis, destroying many coastal areas. Then the earthquakes start. Then the volcanoes start erupting.

Miranda’s family must now learn to survive in a new world–one without electricity, Internet, heating oil, running water or telephones. This is her story, told in journal entries about how her life has changed. Gripping, well-written and fast paced, Life As We Knew It is a book that will stay with its reader long after they’ve finished it.