Life As We Knew It Review

Life As We Knew It (The Last Survivors #1)

By Susan Beth Pfeffer

Published October 1st,  2006 by Harcourt Children's Books

337 pages

4 stars - Very Captivating!

It’s almost the end of Miranda’s sophomore year in high school, and her journal reflects the busy life of a typical teenager: conversations with friends, fights with mom, and fervent hopes for a driver’s license.

When Miranda first begins hearing the reports of a meteor on a collision course with the moon, it hardly seems worth a mention in her diary. But after the meteor hits, pushing the moon off its axis and causing worldwide earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, all the things Miranda used to take for granted begin to disappear.

Food and gas shortages, along with extreme weather changes, come to her small Pennsylvania town; and Miranda's voice is by turns petulant, angry, and finally resigned, as her family is forced to make tough choices while they consider their increasingly limited options.

Yet even as suspicious neighbors stockpile food in anticipation of a looming winter without heat or electricity, Miranda knows that that her future is still hers to decide even if life as she knew it is over.

Wow, yeah I first read this book in like 7th grade and I still love it and the whole series. Life As We Knew It is an interesting and captivating book that has you wondering what will happened to Miranda's family and everyone around them. The summary above does a pretty good job of explaining what happens and since I don't want to spoil I won't say too much. 

First of all I love how this book is written in journal entries. It really helped me get to know Miranda who is just like any typical teenager except for the fact that her life is changing pretty quickly. Second of all I love how I was able to get to know that characters even though the entries are Miranda's. It felt like I was there with them and all the scariness and happiness they were going through. This book, even though it wasn't heavy, really made me think about what it would be like to go through something like this. It makes you appreciate what you have more, like electricity and family :).

Anyways like I was saying, you could really feel Miranda's voice and you could tell how she really didn't understand what was going on in the beginning. But I loved watching her grow throughout the book and learn about what you should appreciate in life. Her brothers and her mom were the only ones she really had the company of when things started getting worse. And now I feel like I'm not making sense so I'm just going to say that this is a captivating series and great for any age. This book doesn't get boring and has you wondering what will become of a family and everyone they know. I loved it when I was in middle school and still love it now. So check this book out and check out the whole series. Maybe you'll like it and form a bond with the characters like I did. :)

Vanessa