Shelf Life

This is a reposting of a previous review. This title is a 2008-2009 California Young Reader Medal nominee.

A direct impact by an asteroid on the moon is big news for scientists but for Miranda, a typical teen growing up in modern day Pennsylvania, it just looks like an excuse for more homework from her teachers. The asteroid turns out to be more massive than expected and the collision alters the moon’s orbit, pushing it closer to the earth with devastating effects. Tide surges, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions kill untold numbers of people and wipe out most coastal cities. All of which leads to the swift breakdown of society, with schools and stores closing and gas and electrical service disappearing.

Miranda and her family are left to survive on their own. Thanks to Miranda’s mother they have a store of supplies but they can’t last forever. Day by day old, mundane concerns lose their importance and are replaced by more urgent needs like food, heat and water. And as global climate change makes the earth less and less hospitable to life they wonder if there will be any reason to keep on living.

Told through Miranda’s journal entries this is a truly frightening story. Although death and destruction are all around they are not described in any detail. It is the plausible day-by-day disintegration of Miranda’s life that makes the story scary. This is a book that is hard to put down and a it is a story that will stay with you long after you finish it.

By Mr. Doyle

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