Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Genre: Survival, Dystopia
Rating: 5
Teach-ability: 1
Teachable Aspects: genre, plot

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a huge fan of movies like The Day After Tomorrow and 2012. Perhaps it is because they are packed with action and the stories are interesting, but I have always liked movies with story lines like these. The premise of this book was interesting, and for parts of the book I was really enthralled. The story revolves around 16 year-old Miranda, a junior in high school. News has it that an asteroid is bound to hit the moon, and as other asteroids have hit the moon in the past, this is a historical event. On the night of the event the streets are lined with people looking to the sky to see what is going to happen when the asteroid hits the moon. It hits, and then the moon fills up the night sky. The force of the asteroid has pushed the moon out of orbit, and the effects from this are substantial. Tsunamis, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes cause massive death and destruction across the world and the effects are felt even in Miranda's small PA town. Miranda journals her life from about a week before to long after the asteroid hits the moon, and the things that happen make a substantial impact on the fragility of our Earth.

Like I said, the story was good. It was interesting, and for many parts in the story the pages flew by as I read and read. A little over half-way through the book, I just couldn't read it anymore. There is a certain predictability to survival and end-of-the-world movies and texts and with a book that is over 300 pages long, by 2/3 of the way in, I had just had enough. However, I have spoken to many many people (okay 3) who have said that they really liked this book; that they couldn't put it down. I don't know what that says for me (maybe because I am such a fan of the movie genre) but it just felt like I already knew the ending, and there was still so much left to read.

I think that overall, the book is okay. I think it would be an interesting read for students because of the "what-if" factor that it instills in its readers. This book would definitely get students to think, and sometimes that is more important than a book that is a book that kept me enthralled. I would even contemplate using segments of this book (as it is written in journal entry form) in the classroom--to teach action, or suspense, or predicting.

I would recommend this book to students, and it is one that I would love to have on my classroom bookshelf, because its one that will not only keep students engaged, but will also keep them thinking for a time after. (And probably any other time that they see the moon...)