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Summary and Reviews of Let's Call It a Doomsday by Katie Henry

Let's Call It a Doomsday by Katie  Henry

Let's Call It a Doomsday

by Katie Henry
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (7):
  • First Published:
  • Aug 6, 2019, 400 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Aug 2020, 416 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

An engrossing and thoughtful contemporary tale that tackles faith, friendship, family, anxiety, and the potential apocalypse from Katie Henry, the acclaimed author of Heretics Anonymous.

There are many ways the world could end. A fire. A catastrophic flood. A super eruption that spews lakes of lava. Ellis Kimball has made note of all possible scenarios, and she is prepared for each one.

What she doesn't expect is meeting Hannah Marks in her therapist's waiting room. Hannah calls their meeting fate. After all, Ellis is scared about the end of the world; Hannah knows when it's going to happen.

Despite Ellis's anxiety—about what others think of her, about what she's doing wrong, about the safety of her loved ones—the two girls become friends. But time is ticking down, and as Ellis tries to help Hannah decipher the details of her doomsday premonition, their search for answers only raises more questions.

When does it happen? Who will believe them? And how do you prepare for the end of the world when it feels like your life is just getting started?

One

HERE IS ONE way the world could end:

In a peaceful corner of northwest Wyoming, under the feet of park rangers, herds of deer, and thousands of tourists to Yellowstone National Park, lies a giant reservoir of burning, deadly magma called the Yellowstone Caldera. First, there would be earthquakes, the kind you can't sleep through. Then would come the supereruption, a rare seismic event. Rare, but possible. Rare, but overdue. The park would be a lake of lava, but the real problem would be the ash, which would blanket the entire United States, coast to coast. In the Rockies, the ash would crush buildings, devastate crops, suffocate animals and people. Even a few inches would make national highways impassable, ruin farms, shut down air travel. Life as we know it would be over. The entire planet would grow colder.

Here is another way the world could end: I could fail my driving test for a third time.

"Twice isn't even that many times to fail. Two times, that's all, and my parents look...

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

Three elements help the novel stand out among other recent young adult releases about mental illness: Ellis's survivalist knowledge, her Mormon religion and the author's detailed depiction of the Oakland/Bay Area setting. The book's conclusion is both satisfying and open-ended, if a bit too neat...continued

Full Review Members Only (604 words)

(Reviewed by Catherine M Andronik).

Media Reviews

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Henry treats Ellis’ faith with respect and sensitivity while still realistically depicting her struggles to find love and acceptance of herself in a community that is not always supportive of LGBTQ+ individuals...the final few chapters send the reader on a satisfying rollercoaster.

The Horn Book
As Ellis learns to consider the hopeful alongside the negative scenarios, the story rushes toward its intriguing, suspenseful conclusion...A too-rare, well-rounded portrayal of a religious adolescent, from the author of Heretics Anonymous.

Booklist (starred review)
Most impressive here is Henry's multifaceted take on religion. Come for the arch first-person narrative and puppy love, stay for the examination into belief.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Henry (Heretics Anonymous, 2018) writes witty dialogue, creates complicated characters, and treats different religious beliefs with sincerity and respect...Don't be put off by the canned tomato cover: This one's a gem.

Publishers Weekly
In this entertaining coming-of-age story, five free-thinking students launch a clandestine campaign against their school's rigid policies and practices, with unanticipated consequences. Snappy dialogue sparkles throughout this skillfully crafted debut.

School Library Journal
The story adeptly asks readers to question what they believe and why, without being preachy, judgmental, or dismissive. Humor interlaced with more serious ideas make for an interesting and enjoyable read. Highly recommended, especially for teens who are passionate about a cause.

Reader Reviews

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Beyond the Book



Emergency Preparedness Needs

The Limitless Mark 1 Pro Survival Kit tin, black with skull designEllis Kimball in Let's Call It a Doomsday is ready for the apocalypse, whatever form it takes. Would you be prepared? Most of the population of the United States lives in a place where some kind of natural disaster is possible, be it tornado, hurricane, flood, drought, blizzard or earthquake. As soon as the radio or television stations announce an impending event, people race to the nearest market and clear the shelves of water, batteries and nonperishable food items like canned goods. But a small percentage of people do not need to participate in this rush; they already have a stash of what they will need to survive for days, even weeks, without electricity or running water. Ellis takes her preparation seriously, accumulating things like ...

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Read-Alikes

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