Life as We Knew It (Life As We Knew It Series, 1)

A good friend recommended this book to me. I had started it a year ago, but stopped because I didn't think the first few chapters were that compelling. I'll get to that later. I'm just glad I went back to it.Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer stars Miranda, a normal girl who lives in a small town. She is your typical teenager-- fights with her mom, whines about how life is unfair, and struggles with math. An asteroid hits the moon, and the tides cover many areas of land, causing wide spread destruction, panic, and death. Even Miranda and her family who live more inland are affected. They band together, hoard food, and cut wood in anticipation for what is to come. What begins is a very poignant portrayal of survival.I'll stand by my initial words-- the beginning is still not my favorite. I know that we are supposed to get lulled into Miranda's normal life, but it's almost too much. The story really begins ironically, when the world seems to come to an end (literally, not just in teen speak). That said, after the asteroid hits, the story gradually heightens the tension and suspense. We grow to love Miranda and her family, and she is forced to grow up fast. But she does, and I admire the woman she becomes in such dire circumstances. The side characters are just as wonderful and three dimensional-- including her two brothers, Jon and Matt, and her mother. Matt is probably my favorite, and I am awed by how well he keeps the family together. He is only a freshman in college. One of the most moving scenes, however, is when the family gets sick with flu. I won't say any more and have the reader discover this scene for themselves. I was moved to tears.Overall, this book has the feel of the Diary of Anne Frank, as it is told in diary entries of Miranda. This feel was probably completely on purpose by Pfeffer, as the world that Miranda lives in can be compared to Anne Frank's experience, hiding with one's family from the Nazis. I was impressed with the world building, the well thought out and three dimensional characters, and the emotional impact of this book. At the end, I was still left with the hope that not only people but the goodness in human nature would survive.

I really enjoyed this. At first I wasn’t sure, but once things started to fall apart I was hooked. I read it slower than I would have liked, but that’s normal when reading with a book club.This was written in diary format by a 16 year old girl. Sometimes her thinking was a bit selfish, but when it really came down to life or death she put her family first. She and her siblings had to grow up fast when the world was falling apart and people were dying. I’m definitely going to continue the series! It’s four books, but it is quick reading.If you like apocalyptic stories, you will enjoy this. The fact that the astroid knocked the moon off kilter and closer to the earth causing all kinds of problems is a really cool concept. I’m curious to see what happens next, will the earth survive this cataclysmic event?!

I stayed up all night reading this book, I absolutely couldn't put it down. A very large sample is available on google books so of you have any doubts about buying the book you should read the sample. I promise you'll be unable to stop yourself from clicking the buy now button.Now for a few issues the other readers brought up. 1. The science. I'm not a scientist and I doubt there are many scientist in the actual intended age group for this story. Could the mood really be pushed closer to earth? I don't know, I know it got hit with a lot of meteors in the past hard enough to leave craters, so to be it doesn't seem all that far outside of the realm of reality. I took an astronomy class once, my professor talked a lot about things that could happen to our planet and frankly this sounds downright hopeful compared to comets hitting the earth or our sun blowing up. This book will get you thinking a lot about the moon in a scientific way. It does a lot for our planet but I think all the moon being pushed closer to earth was intended for was a plot devise. It's something unique, cataclysmic, world wide, unfixable, and a catalyst for all the events in the story.This is your classic coming of age story, and if the characters seem a little one dimensional then you've already forgotten your reading a diary, which sort of speaks well for the writer. The only persons head we get into is Miranda, and I didn't find her to be emotionless. I viewed the diary as her escape and venting place and I think after awhile even the most dramatic of sixteen year olds would stop feeling. I was annoyed with her character (come on, she's a sixteen year old girl who prior to this event was spoiled rottin who wouldn't be annoyed with her) but I think she matured very nicely and realistically.Basically this book boils down to your basic coming of age novel, the moon just makes those classic tensions more extreme. The arguments between Miranda and her mother were normal, the topics weren't, the jealously of a younger sibling was magnified because food is scarce and the youngest got more, the sadness when a friend is completely absorbed into anothe group was also magnified.I do think religion took a hit, but not in an unrealistic way. Maybe there were soup kitchens and shelters open, but mirandas mom would most likely not have set foot in them. I agree it felt wrong reading about this mother telling her daughter not to share, but sharing is a luxery and that was actually the most realistic part of the story to me. This isn't some idealized version of the end of the world with everyone coming together, this was one families reaction to it, and they were the lucky ones (read the dead and the gone for how much worse things could have been)I would read it before allowing your child to and use it as a springboard to discuss what to do in an emergency ect, I think what bothered me most reading this book is when I started plotting out how I would survive (this book does that to you) I'm not so sure I would be able to.

Bought this book because I found the second at a used book store and curious.I am glad I did! I really enjoyed it.

A 16 year olds diary of one year in her life. The first few days her life is similar to any US teenager, then disaster strikes and the world she knew begins to crumble. Within a short period her life revolves around her family and their struggle to survive in a world with little food, heat or electricity. This is a story of family and the lengths people will go to for the ones they love. I've read this book several times but I keep coming back to it. I doubt I will ever tire of it.

Avec Life As We Knew It, c'est la notion d'immuabilité de notre Terre que l'on questionne.Imaginez que demain, la Lune, déviée de son orbite par un astéroïde, se rapproche dangereusement de la Terre... Que celle-ci vous menace, et vous terrorise, à chaque regard que vous portez vers elle.Imaginez ce que ce rapprochement implique alors :Tremblements de terre.Marées déréglées.Tsunamis.Eruptions volcaniques...Une Terre secouée et des êtres humains terrifiés.Et, au milieu de ces derniers, Miranda, jeune fille de 16 ans qui nous livre, au quotidien, ses impressions, ses peurs, ses angoisses, ses petits bobos d'adolescente et son amour pour ses proches...Oui, car avant d'être l'histoire d'un Monde, c'est avant tout l'histoire de familles que nous suivons là.Familles éclatées et que, parfois, seule la mort réunit.Familles apeurées tentant de survivre, simplement.Familles en fuite....Je n'en dirai pas plus pour ne pas vous gâcher votre lecture, mais ce livre, en VO qui plus est, a vraiment été un coup de coeur.Sociologie, anticipation, philosophie, théologie, critique acerbe, romance, amour, valeur...Tout est présent dans ce roman de 337 pages.Et des mots forts et réalistes nous les apportent, minutieusement dosés.Pour que rien ne tombe dans le pathos ou dans la facilité.Je conseille !!

Das Buch "Life as we knew it" hat mir sehr gut gefallen, denn einerseits fand ich das Thema super (Was passiert, wenn ein Asteroid mit der Erde bzw. dem Mond kollidiert?) und andrerseits wird die Geschichte von Miranda aus ihrer eigenen Perspektive von der Autorin einfach klasse geschildert. Die Stimmung vom Buch ist zwar etwas düster, aber dafür durchaus realitätsgetreu, denn man fühlt mit der Protagonistin mit und macht sich selber Gedanken darüber, was man selbst tun würde, wenn eine solche Katastrophe passieren würde.Das Buch gibt es zwar auch in Deutsch, allerdings ist dieses Taschenbuch wesentlich billiger als die deutsche Version und außerdem ist es nicht sehr schwer zu verstehen, denn die Sprache ist wenig kompliziert, da es sich um Tagebucheinträge der Hauptperson handelt.Das Buch richtet sich v.a. an Jugendliche, doch auch für junge Erwachsene dürfte es interessant sein (wenn es ihnen nichts ausmacht, alles aus der Sicht einer 16-Jährigen zu erleben).Auch als Schullektüre im Englischunterricht wäre es bestimmt super geeignet, da es einfach zu lesen und zu verstehen ist.Ich kann das Buch jedem empfehlen, der gerne einen Blick in eine Welt werfen würde, in der alles aus dem Gleichgewicht geraten ist. Waschechte Science-Fiction-Fans werden allerdings wohl nicht auf ihre Kosten kommen, denn das astronomische Ereignis (Einschlag des Asteroiden auf den Mond) wird nur kurz erwähnt, denn es geht vielmehr um die Folgen einer solchen Katastrophe.

It is a very interesting story & I enjoyed it even though it was written for a younger audience.