Review: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Apr 8, 2010 by shanyn

Title: Life As We Knew It
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Publisher: Harcourt Children’s Books
Publication Date: October 1, 2006

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Book Summary:
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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Review:
This book has been out for awhile and I just now caught wind of some very glowing recommendations, so I picked it up on my last trip to the bookstore.

An asteroid is set to hit the moon, and no one thinks much of it – that is, until the moon is hit off course and closer to the Earth, changing most everything about “Life As We Knew It.”

Miranda is our main character, and we are taken through the journey through her diary. We follow her as the days lead up to the moon being hit, and what happens afterwards – most notably the changes due to the gravitational pull from the now too close moon.

After reading about half of the book I took a break, and found myself wondering what I would do if I were faced with some of the things Miranda faces in this book. While I was reading, it began to rain and the tornado siren here went off (it was only a test, but still very creepy). It affected the way I think about everything.

Not only was the book thought provoking, but I felt deeply connected to the characters. They weren’t just individuals written in the middle of a crisis – I cared for their well being and ached when things didn’t go well. I cringed when they fought and cheered when they had a minor victory.

The new world painted by Susan Beth Pfeffer was done in a hauntingly beautiful way – I had no trouble imagining the scenes she created, even though I have not been in any situations even close to the ones described.

I am very eager to read the second and third books in this series.

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• Review: This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
• Review: The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
• Waiting on Wednesday: Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer
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• Review: Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey