Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Genre:  Fantasy

Age Level:  12 and up

# of Pages:  337

RAC Book:  Yes

Miranda, her mother, and her little brother Jonny are all excited about the upcoming event of a meteor crashing into the moon.  Meteorologists have been predicting it for weeks and believe people will be able to see it just by looking at the sky.  People plan big parties and everyone is outside to watch, but somewhere the calculations are off and the meteor has a much bigger impact than anyone predicted.  In fact, the moon is pushed closer to earth, which causes a string of events that end “normal” life on earth.  First, the tides begin to change and cause floods, tsunamis, and tornados.  Then, volcanoes start to erupt all over earth.  The ash in the air causes the sun to become blocked, which kills the crops, etc. 

Miranda and her family live in a place that is not directly affected by any of the natural disasters, but everyone in the world is affected by what has happened.  All of the grocery stores and restaurants close, the price of gas keeps rising and rising, the schools close, and there is no electricity.  Miranda tells the story through her diary where she depicts her family’s activities each day following this disaster.  They gather as much food and supplies as they can so that they can be prepared, but still find themselves eating as little as possible so that they can conserve.  They also spend hours on household chores such as washing clothes and chopping wood since they won’t be able to count on their appliances anymore.

As the story moves on, things keep getting more dire for Miranda and her family and there are times where they all doubt their survival.  There is a theme of hope in the book, but there is also always the possibility that they will all die.  The story is told realistically and accurately portrays how one incident can change everything about life on earth.  Some students may find it too realistic and therefore disturbing, but it is good for students to be aware of how we all depend on each other and what might happen if even one thing went wrong.

 

7 Responses to “Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer”


  1. 1 ReAdEr November 6, 2008 at 12:25 am

    I love this book! It’s so good, and im doing it for my English Project! ♥

  2. 2 Alli February 2, 2009 at 7:45 pm

    OMG ! Your doing it for an English Project too!!! Right now I’m researching the author for my English project!!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. 3 Katie March 1, 2009 at 5:43 pm

    This is an amazing book!! I couldn’t put it down. I loved it! Now I’m writing a speech on it. Does anyone know any themes in this book?

  4. 4 Natzz March 11, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    Wow this is soo wierd… I’m doing MY english project on this book too!!! ahhaa
    O.o

  5. 5 lisamm March 22, 2009 at 5:38 pm

    Both my daughter (11 years) and I LOVED this book. It really made us think about how important it is to rely on each other, and not to waste resources, etc.

  6. 6 nyla July 17, 2009 at 11:59 pm

    I have a sort of love/hate relationship with this book. Some of Miranda’s entries greatly amused me while others fell flat. I skipped about 100 pages of the book but went back and read them for my sophmore summer reading project.

  7. 7 anne January 1, 2010 at 11:42 pm

    I had to do this book for school as well. I liked that it was realistic in some chapters. I found it quite believable. Overall, it was better than the other books I read this year.


Leave a Reply




a