Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2008
336 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
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.
"Those who enjoyed the journal style of the companion novel (Life as We Knew It) may be surprised by the switch to third-person narration, but most will be delighted to observe the same depth of character and the same ability to move readers to tears." - VOYA, ages 11-18.
"As in the previous novel, Life as We Knew It (2006), realistically bone-chilling despair and death join with the larger question of how the haves and have-nots of a major metropolitan city will ultimately survive in an increasingly lawless, largely deserted urban wasteland. Incredibly engaging." - Kirkus Reviews.
"Starred Review. The powerful images and wrenching tragedies will haunt readers. Ages 12–up." - Publishers Weekly.
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Susan Beth Pfeffer was born in New York City. She grew up in the
city and its nearby suburbs and spent summers in the Catskill Mountains. When
she was six her father wrote and published a book on constitutional law, and
Pfeffer decided that she, too, wanted to be a writer. That year she wrote
her first story, about the love between an Oreo cookie and a pair of scissors.
However, it wasn't until 1970 that her first book, Just Morgan, was
published. She wrote it during her last semester at New York University;
since then, she has been a full-time writer for young people.
She has won numerous awards and citations for her work, which range from picture
books to middle-grade and young-adult novels, and include both contemporary and
historical fiction. She is ...
... Full Biography
Link to Susan Beth Pfeffer's Website
Name Pronunciation
Susan Beth Pfeffer: Feffer (pfeffer means pepper in German)
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