LIFE AS WE KNEW IT by Susan Beth Pfeffer
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  10/1/06
    Publisher:  Harcourt
    Reviewed by:  Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
    Rating:  5 Stars


    If you're looking for one of the best books of 2006, then look no further than Susan Beth Pfeffer's LIFE AS WE
    KNEW IT. A wonderful tale of family love, loss, and survival, this is one story that will stay with you long after you've
    turned the last page.

    There have been lots of changes in sixteen-year-old Miranda's life recently.  Her older brother, Matt, is away at
    college.  Her mom is still adjusting to being a divorced parent.  Her younger brother, Jonny, is obsessed with
    baseball.  And her dad and his new wife, Lisa, are expecting a baby.  Dealing with all of that has been quite stressful,
    but Miranda's been thinking about getting back into ice-skating, and she's spending plenty of time mooning over her
    current hero/crush, Olympic-hopeful Brandon Erlich, a hometown hero.

    Miranda's also excited about the meteor that's headed towards the Moon.  Some scientists predict a minor collision;
    teachers predict plenty of extra homework dealing with the subjects of both Moon and meteors.  For Miranda and her
    family, and for millions of others around the world, it simply sounds like a cool event you'll get to watch from your
    front yard through a pair of binoculars.

    What happens on that fateful night is something no one expected.  The meteor does, in fact, collide with the Moon.  
    However, the impact was stronger than anyone had previously thought possible, and immediately, all throughout planet
    Earth, the effects of that collision begin to be felt.  Tides, which are controlled by the Moon, become erratic, causing
    deadly tidal waves. Fissures in the Earth's crust crack, causing earthquakes worldwide, even in places where no
    earthquakes had ever occurred before.  Within twenty-four hours, it becomes apparent that thousands upon
    thousands of people have died, and that, with the Moon out of its normal orbit, many more deaths are sure to follow.

    This may sound like a depressing story, but in fact it's a story about hope and survival.  LIFE AS WE KNEW IT
    follows Miranda and her family through nearly a year after the meteor's collision with the Moon, and all of the events
    that come after it--the power outages, the food shortages, the weather changes, and the loss of human contact.  As
    Miranda and her family come to grips with this new way of living, their bodies and spirits will be tested more than
    they've ever been before.  But this is ultimately a story about learning to survive with what you've got, and never taking
    what you have for granted.  A wonderful, inspiring story, LIFE AS WE KNEW IT is one you'll want to read more
    than once.
Life As We Knew It
by Susan Beth Pfeffer