Precy Larkins--YA Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer's Moon Trilogy

Susan Beth Pfeffer's Moon Trilogy

I love Susan Beth Pfeffer's Moon books: Life As We Knew It, The Dead and The Gone, and This World We Live In.

Here are the blurbs for each book: (Blurbs and images from Goodreads.)

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

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.
With haunting themes of family, faith, personal change, and courage, this powerful novel explores how a young man takes on unimaginable responsibilities.

In the year that has passed since a meteor collided with the moon, Miranda’s friends and neighbors have died, the landscape has frozen, and food has become increasingly scarce. The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda’s father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow. One of the newcomers is Alex Morales, and as Miranda’s complicated feelings for him turn to love, his plans for his future thwart their relationship. Then a devastating tornado hits, and Miranda makes a decision that will change their lives forever.

You can check out Susan Beth Pfeffer's blog and website for the Moon Books. There is a poll going on right now in her blog about whether she should come up with a fourth installment of the Moon Books.

For those of you who have read all three, what do you think?

Why I Recommend these books:

Pfeffer's writing is solid and straightforward. There are lots of other end-of-the-world books out there, but Pfeffer's was set so strongly in our time and generation that it was hard not to feel that this was something that could happen to us. Which is a very scary thought. My dear hubby had to remind me several times that I'm reading fiction and Look honey, we're okay. The moon's still up in the sky. We've got plenty of food and water. To which I would reply: Not plenty enough. That is a testament of how Pfeffer's writing brought her characters, setting, and plot to life.

So check them out, if you haven't already done so.

4 comments:

Sarah Gagnon said...: I haven't read them. The blurbs sound a little boring to me. Is there anything that actually happens? The first one sounds like characters sit around in a room and try to be hopeful.; April 2, 2011 at 5:19 PM
Precy Larkins said...: LOL. Sarah you made me laugh. Now that I look at it, it does seem that way, doesn't it. It's really a story about survival. The first book follows 16-year-old Miranda's family when the Moon disaster first hits. As a reader you get to follow their struggles as the situation deteriorates month by month, then week by week, until it's a day to day endeavor to keep on breathing and living. It's more focused on the emotions and the relationships between the members of the family. One by one, people that they know die, their food storage dwindles to almost nothing, and then it becomes a question of who will sacrifice to let the others live. And no, they really do other things beside sitting and waiting to die.

The second book is grittier--the mc has to loot dead bodies around New York just to be able to barter for food. It's the notion that humanity is a thin line, and how much of our morality/values are we willing to bury in order to survive?

I think the third book is probably more your cup of tea since you're a romantic at heart ;).; April 2, 2011 at 5:48 PM
Sarah Gagnon said...: Hmmm, I don't know sounds too depressing to me.
In fact it's making me reconsider my idea for a dystopian novel. Usually when I want to appreciate the world more, I read about cavemen and feel happy I don't have to spend all day hunting and gutting.; April 4, 2011 at 9:05 AM
Precy Larkins said...: Sarah, I just love your comments! LOL on the cavemen hunting and gutting. Well, when it comes to books, it's a subjective business. ;) That's why there's a whole world of genres. Not everyone likes the same things.; April 4, 2011 at 7:35 PM