Review: The Dead and The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is the first book I'm reviewing that I listened to instead of read.  My husband bought me an FM transmitter for my iPod, and my daughter and I have been listening to it when we go to and from school.  I didn't think my son was paying attention until he got mad that we finished the book when he wasn't in the car!

Summary from Barnes and Noble

Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event--an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin of horrific climate changes. Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales. When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle.

You can't call this a sequel to Life as We Knew It because it takes place at the same time as that book.  It is a companion book.  You could read either book first. I was a little hesitant going into this book because I heard it wasn't as good as the LAWKI.  I disagree! I enjoyed (and with the pain in the book it's hard to say "enjoy") this book quit a bit.  While LAWKI seems to focus more on the solitude of Miranda's family - this book shows how a big city might be affected.  The issues that face Alex are different but as horrible - rats, dead bodies, no parents, offers for his sister.  I once again felt dragged through every emotion I had, especially to a place with almost not hope.  Doesn't it sound fun!? Just like LAWKI, it wasn't meant to be.  And just like with that book, the events in this book will stick with me.

Bottom Line:  Read it.  And then wait like the rest of us for the 3rd book, This World We Live In, to come out. 

Lexile: 680
Best for ages: 13+, but my daughter is 10 and loved it.  We did talk about some of the issues in it because some are pretty tough.

Side note:  When NASA shot that rocket thing into the moon on Monday - it scared me because of these books!!!!!