I started this book at the end of the previous school year and continued into the summer, but I had to stop for a while. The book was stressing me out.
Life As We Knew It involves the moon getting hit by an asteroid. At first everyone goes out to celebrate the event but then people start to realize that life is going to change.
The moon gets knocked out of its current orbit. It’s still going around the Earth but is now a little closer. That shift in gravity affects the weather, tides, and even volcanoes. The first part of the book has the feel of a disaster movie.
The second half, though, surprised me. Shops start shutting down, food starts running out, and protagonist Miranda must work hard at collecting enough supplies to last an indefinite winter.
It shares some similarities to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House books, gathering firewood and tending to the stove, all apart from the rest of the world.
During the scenes where characters are limited to one small section of the house, the story resembles the Diary of Anne Frank. Sickness, starvation, and an insane frustration with others threatens Miranda’s family at each turn.
It’s a good story that stands on its own, but it especially works as a bridge to other novels for the Language Arts/English classroom.
