What do readers think of The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker? Write your own review.

The story is narrated by eleven-year-old, Julia so really more of the story is about coming-of-age but also part sci-fi and part young adult fiction. However, as a full grown adult I did thoroughly enjoy the book. It is beautifully written and I will be recommending it to my friends.

The setting is in a small California town and is narrated by an 11 year old girl whose world is drastically changed as day by day the earths' rotation around the sun is shortened. Never knowing what to expect, she tries to maintain life as she's known it---part of a family consisting of mother, father and grandfather, in school where she struggles with friendships and the always difficult coming-of-age problems of self esteem, body image, and fashion all while trying desperately to attract the attention of one particular boy. Meanwhile, society is disintegrating ---there are battles between those trying to live by the 24 hr. "clock time" and those living on "physical time" corresponding with the ever lengthening hours of daylight and darkness. All the simple activities of daily life are altered, the food supply is at risk leading to hoarding and growing vegetables and fruits under artificial lights, utilities are strained, severe climate changes occur, and eventually solar radiation takes the lives of the people who venture out in the sunlight. This book is very thought-provoking, offering no solutions, but leaving one with a deeper appreciation of life as we know it today.

This was a very difficult book to get through for me. It was well-written; however, the tone was dark and I kept waiting for something more to happen but it just got bleaker and bleaker as I read.

I rarely find debut novels truly great, but The Age of Miracles surprised me. The Age of Miracles is Julia's recollection of the day everything changed. It was disturbing and the voice of the young protagonist, Julia, was haunting. I highly recommend this book for adults and young adults alike.

This book will stick with you; I loved it, and it's a book that I won't soon forget. Julia is a normal 6th grader, but nothing in the world is normal. Not only does she have the daily life issues - first love, friend that dumps her - but the Earths rotation is slowing down and days are growing longer every minute. The world's crisis is told from her point of view; this is not a scientific book that explains what and why in a scientific manner. Rather, it shows the catastrophic 'slowing' from a personal level from real people; a young girl and her parents. Get this book; you will not be sorry.

A great read! It's a haunting story of a girl's coming of age during a time when the earth's rotation is literally slowing down. She has to cope with a lot changes - her adolescence, and a rapidly changing world.

From the first page this book captured my heart. Julia, the young narrator of the story, feels very real, and the author's ability to show how people react to changing circumstances is uncanny. Not only is the story intriguing, the author's use of spare, elegant language, along with her insights into human nature, make this a must-read book. Once I started it, I could not put it down, and I've recommended it to several friends. I look forward to more work from Karen Thompson Walker.

I so wanted to love this book! I read a lot of science fiction, and post-apocalyptic stories are some of my favorites (yes, weird, I know). But this book just didn't hit the mark for me-- I found the characters flat, the relationships less than believable, and the basic premise implausible enough to distract me from the story itself. In it's favor, the author gets the feel of California really well, and the ending was great.