A companion book to The Dead and the Gone. This one is set in rural Pennsylvania instead of New York City.  When the moon’s orbit is changed, the earth’s tides, volcanos and climate are changed as well.  Miranda and her family must struggle to survive the devastation that follows.

I have no idea how scientifically accurate Pheffer’s book is.  However, she paints a very realistic picture of the physical realities of life, if we were suddenly confronted with no electricity, heat, running water, or the ability to grow more food.  Pfeffer explores family and friend dynamics as well, when life becomes instantly about survival.

My favorite Napoli book to date.  This one tells the tale of a spoiled Irish princess who is kidnapped and brought far from home on a Viking slave ship.  Sold into slavery, Melkorka’s one protection is the vow of silence she has taken.  Fabulous book–highly recommended.

When the moon’s orbit is disrupted by an asteroid, a chain reaction of events is set off all over the world.  Tidal waves, earthquakes and volcanoes wreak havoc.  For Alex, his life in New York City is reduced to survival.  With both of his parents missing, Alex becomes responsible overnight to feed, shelter and protect his 2 younger sisters.  This was a fast paced, exciting apocalyptic novel.  In the midst of the excitement and horror, Alex learns some powerful lessons about responsibility, love and family.

Basing his story on the beloved Peter Pan characters, David extends and adds to James Barrie’s original story.  Paul Dear is in need of a new baby sister, so he travels to Anyplace, where he surely will be able to find one.  So start Paul’s adventures with The Boy, a pixie named Fiddlefix, a girl named Gwenny and the evil pirate Captain Slash.

I’ve always loved a good “survival” story.  When I was younger it was The Boxcar Children, Swiss Family Robinson and My Side of the Mountain.  Later, it was The Postman; Into the Forest; Memory Boy; Tomorrow, When the War Began, and many others.  There’s just something about people defying the odds and thriving in the midst of tragedy and disaster that makes for great reading.  And the minute details about how the characters gathered food/made shelter/found clothes?  I love those parts!

I was hoping that The Compound would be another great survival story to add to the list.  Well it did have the minute details about food, shelter and clothing that made me happy.  But the story overall wasn’t great.  In the face of a nuclear attack, Eli and his family are quickly moved underground into a state of the art shelter, prepared by his billionaire father.  After 6 years of living underground, Eli has grown from a scared 9 year old boy to a questioning teenager.  He starts to suspect that his father isn’t telling him the truth about everything, and goes searching for answers.  It’s an interesting premise, but the rest of the story is convoluted and strange.  The ins and outs of why the “bad guys” did what they did just don’t make much sense.