A worthy addition to the post-apocalyptic genre. It was similar in style and feel to Life as We Knew It. When a supervolcano erupts unexpectedly near Alex’s Iowa home, he is separated from his parents. Desperate to reunite with them, he begins the dangerous journey in the midst of a cataclysmic ashfall. Facing hunger, injury and violence, Alex also finds unexpected friendship and help. I’m eager to read the sequel, Ashen Winter, due out in October.

If you can breeze past a few sermons about global warming and polar icecaps melting, this was a great book.  Mara’s town is a tiny shrinking island in the Atlantic.  As far as the people in her town know, their island is the only dry land left on earth.  But as the waters keep rising, they must find a new home.  Mara convinces the islanders to set off in search of a rumored refuge–sky cities built high above the wet earth.

Goodman’s first Young Adult novel is fantastic!  Honor and her parents live on Island 365.  Honor tries hard to obey the rules of their totalitarian government and just “fit in”, but her parents long for the freedom of days past.  When Honor’s parents are “redistributed,”she must decide whether she will accept their loss, or risk her life for change.

Nyle and his grandma live on a sheep farm. Her dad left and her mom has died. A nuclear accident nearby destroys much land, kills many and gives many radiation sickness. Ezra, a refugee in need of care, comes to stay with Nyle and her grandma.

It took awhile to figure out where this story took place. I thought it was set in Eastern Europe in the 60’s or 70’s. It was actually supposed to be present day East Coast (near Boston.) I read this book in June of 2001. I wonder if I had read it 4 months later, if it would have been as difficult for me to imagine such a disaster taking place here.