Life As We Knew It

Reader reviewed by JulieA.

Life as we knew it is a great book about life on earth suddenly and dramatically changing told through the eyes of a teenager.  A comet that is supposed to creat an amazing light show in the night sky shockingly collides with the earth's moon pushing it dangerously close to the earth.  Gravity is disturbed, so tides change.  Immediately Cape Cod and Manhattan are submerged.  How would you respond to such a catastrophe.  This book is exciting, suspenseful, scary and even a little romantic.  A must read!

Reader reviewed by Samantha

This was a book on my Reading Bowl list. I thought it was going to be sad by what some of the other girls said, but it really wasn't.

If I was asked what my favorite part of this book was, it would have to be the swimming and the ice skating part. I always thought Miranda was more fun there.

It scared me a little though, her bro's names was my bro's name, her BF's name was MY name, it got creppy after a while.

Reader reviewed by mearley

Miranda and her family are trying to survive after a giant asteroid affects the moon's gravitational pull. Through Miranda's diary, we see how her family struggles from day to day, making sure there's enough food, medicine, fuel, etc. just to live. It really does make you think about what you would do--what you'd be willing to do--to make sure you and your family survived even when so many other people were dying.

I had this book for a long time before I read it. I'm guilty of judging a book by it's cover. The cover shown here looks fine, but the version I have (Scholastic school edition) shows a pink dresser with various hair accessories and art supplies and figure skating pictures. The cover seems to appeal to "tweenage" girly-girls, and I thought I wouldn't be interested. It's too bad the cover is so misleading, because it really is a challenging story about moving beyond childish, selfish needs and instead making serious, grown-up decisions.

Reprinted here with the author's permission.

Reader reviewed by Dominique

I loved this book. I had to keep reading the next page to see what they'd do or how they'd survive.

The only part I didn't like is that it's written as a diary entry. It ruined it for me. When it seemed like she was about to die, I'd remember "Hang on, she has to be alive to write a diary entry".

Reader reviewed by Khy

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.

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For my review, I have compiled a list of good things about this book:

1. The characters were very easy to relate to. This made the book much each to get into and made the book's point come across clearer and more powerfully.
2. The diary writing made the book even easier to get into. I really got into the mind of Miranda, the narrator.
3. The book moved quickly, but not too quickly.
4. This book is very effective in making you appreciate what you have. After I finished it, I was thinking "We have food. There's electricity. And it's warm outside. Thank goodness."

I can't think of any bad things about the book, except for the fact that Miranda irritated me a lot. She always managed to get into fights with her mom over silly things.

I command everyone to read it and gain a new appreciation for all the things in the world most people don't usually appreciate.

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

One minute 16-year-old Miranda was worrying about getting a date and if she is ever going to be able to go back to the sport of figure skating again. The next, an asteroid has hit the moon, sending it closer to earth, affecting the planet in all sorts of ways as to make everyone believe that the apocalypse has come. Tides swamp miles of coastline cities; earthquakes and thunderstorms avail; and volcanoes erupt, spewing volcanic ash into the air, which hides the sun and makes the temperature drop dangerously.

This event changes the way they have to look at everything. Mirandas mom, once so eager to share what they had, now tells her children that family comes first, before anyone else. Mirandas older brother Matt does what he can to support the family and make sure they survive the brutal winter. Her younger brother Jonny is forced to grow up a lot faster than he should have to.

The fights, the fear, the good times--Miranda documents it all in her journal, as she and her family learn to sacrifice a little for what is most important when the world comes to an end: family.

LIFE AS WE KNEW IT hooks you and doesnt let you go. Every time I had to take a break from reading, I stumbled out into the real world, where I was amazed to find that there was still plenty of food, water, electricity, and heat. Mirandas simple, diary-like language thus makes her story all that more believable. This novel is an incredible achievement.

Reader reviewed by the book muncher

Miranda hears the news about the meteor about to hit the moon but isnt concerned, because even though it will be the largest to ever do so, scientists dont predict anything bad to happen. But they were wrong. As Miranda and her family watch, the meteor crashes into the moon, knocking it out of orbit and closer to the earth. Everything changes. With the tides drastically altered, natural disasters are occurring worldwide causing thousands of casualties, with no end in sight. Everyone is affected as gas prices rise to above $10 a gallon, supermarkets close, and other stores and the homes of dead people are ransacked. As the climate changes only for the worse, Miranda and her family find themselves in an increasingly desperate situation, continuously wondering just how long their current supplies can sustain them and which of them will be the first to go.

Although Life As We Knew It is an extremely depressing novel, it was also extremely well-written. The story is filled with a constant air of desperation and sadness as Miranda struggles between self-pity and actively helping her family. I really enjoyed how Mirandas character was so nicely developed; she really matured throughout the novel because of the horrible situation she and her family were in. The idea behind this novel is so unique, and it really makes you think and ask yourself, what if the world would end tomorrow? It makes you really take into account what you should be grateful in your life, because a totally unpredictable natural occurrence could change your life tomorrow.

Life As We Knew It is a scary novel that Id only recommend for serious readers. I didnt necessarily enjoy reading this dismal tale, but it has a great message and unforgettable story.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com

Reader reviewed by rachpaige11

Whoa Scary, that's how I describe this book. It is scary. No it doesn't have any monsters, but it has life threatning situations. The way it was written made me feel like I was there experiencing the same thing as the characters. It was a great book.

Told through sixteen-year old Miranda's diary entries, Miranda experiences an event that changed her world. It all started out as a normal week. Then the astronomers announced an asteroid would hit the moon. This information didn't seem that important at first, just an excuse for teachers to send home more homework, then it happened. It was nothing like they predicted. The impact caused the moon to move closer to the earth setting off a chain of rivetting events.

This book was very good. It shows you just how important your life is and what it means when the world around you crumbles.

Reader reviewed by Mairi

Miranda's first entry in her journal describes her teachers' preoccupation the asteroid that is about to hit the moon; they are even talking about it in history. It is lighthearted as she discusses friends and school, but by the next entry the asteroid has knocked the moon into closer orbit around the earth, upsetting tides and altering the climate, and everything has changed. Miranda's mother stocks the house full of groceries and refuses to give to charity when Miranda asks- sharing, she says, is a luxury you cannot afford when the world may be coming to an end.

This was assigned reading for me, but, contrary to my usual feelings about assigned reading, I was excited about it- it looked good and was by an author I was familiar with, even if it was for her less than stellar prequels to Little Women. At the time of the assignment the book was either a) very popular or b) very rare, because I had to get it from Amazon and they sent it to me a day after the assignment. Needless to say I was thrilled with this brilliant timing and so put the book on my shelf until now, when I was feeling generous enough to read it.

At any rate, this is a very good book and I would highly recommend it.