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Life As We Knew It (The Last Survivors #1)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 43,464 ratings · 5,109 reviews

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 hav...more

Hardcover, 337 pages

Published October 1st 2006 by Harcourt Children's Books

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Sep 19, 2009 Valerie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Valerie by: Cara

Shelves: sci-fi

This book is was very overwhelming for me. I felt like it could really happen. After I read half the book I honestly wanted to go to the grocery store and get as much food as I possibly could. It showed me how fragile our lives really are, and I was reminded again what really is important in life. Miranda grows so much, at first I think she sounds a bit spoiled but she grows out of it. And you see what people are truly capable of. As the story progresses things get worse and worse. That is what...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Buggy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, end-of-days, shelf-12, survival, fiction, top, book-hangover

Opening Line:“Lisa is pregnant. Dad called around 11 o’clock to let us know.”

I loved this, easily one of my top reads this year; although maybe love isn’t the right word because this book scared the crap out of me. It also depressed me, made me very cold and gave me OCD about stockpiling food. I mean just how long could I survive on what’s in my cupboards? Not very. Three boxes of Kraft Dinner and a jar of spaghetti sauce are hardly going to see me through a wintery apocalypse now are they? (Alt...more Opening Line:“Lisa is pregnant. Dad called around 11 o’clock to let us know.”

I loved this, easily one of my top reads this year; although maybe love isn’t the right word because this book scared the crap out of me. It also depressed me, made me very cold and gave me OCD about stockpiling food. I mean just how long could I survive on what’s in my cupboards? Not very. Three boxes of Kraft Dinner and a jar of spaghetti sauce are hardly going to see me through a wintery apocalypse now are they? (Although that bottle of gin will come in handy)

As much as this book messed with my head, I also couldn’t stop reading it, fascinated in a morbid sort of way. I’ve heard it compared to a car accident and that’s true, once you start this you won’t be able to look away.

Life As We Knew It is written in diary form, from the POV of 16year old Miranda. The entries start just prior to a meteor hitting the moon and initially her accounts are self-absorbed, and annoying in fact she comes off kind of spoiled, which let’s face it, is realistic for a high school girl. I think the author probably did this on purpose to show us what her life and thoughts were like ‘before’ and how much she grows as a person by the end of this harrowing story.

Miranda lives with her mother and younger brother (with another brother away at college). Her father has remarried and is expecting a baby with his new wife. Nobody is paying much attention to the astronomers or the moon. I mean at 16 it’s all about you, everything else is just an annoyance. In May the meteor knocks the moon out of its orbit and everything changes.

Miranda’s mother is the real hero of this story, having the foresight to begin amassing food and winter clothes, (candles, batteries, water) while the rest of the world watches and waits. The power is the first to go, then Tsunamis take out anyone on the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents and volcanic ash quickly blocks out the sun. We the readers remain mostly naïve about world events because we only know what Miranda writes in her diary and she’s stopped listening to the news only occasionally giving us tidbit from rare radio broadcast that now mostly consist of death lists but soon even the radio stops.

As summer turns to arctic winter and disease threatens those left alive Miranda’s world grows smaller and smaller. School is cancelled, her friends have either moved or died and gathering firewood and water takes up most of her day. She has little strength left because she is starving and her family has moved into one room to conserve the small amount of heat the wood stove is putting out. It is cold, blinding snow storms and ash fill the sky, the food is almost gone, the food is almost gone! When she thinks about last week she wonders why she ever complained because she had it so much better, last week she was eating one meal a day, now she’s eating every second day and wondering just how much longer her family can survive. She hopes she goes first.

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Apr 13, 2010 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dysto-teque, the-end, and-so-this-is-grad-school, why-yes-i-ya

i don't know who i am trying to kid. i keep reading these survival stories, thinking to myself, "i will know what to do if this happens - i will have tips and tricks and i will be the last one standing." that's pretty much bullshit. while its true i probably could survive, i wouldn't want to. i'm a fat lazy american - i don't want to have to scavenge. i don't want to have to hunt and skin deer or build a shelter or defend myself from others looking to eat my delicious arms. i don't want to have...more

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Apr 16, 2010 Annalisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Annalisa by: Jess

Shelves: young-adult, apocalypse, speculative, sci-fi, cover

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm not sure whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. It's definitely a page turner. I found myself increasingly anxious for Miranda and her family, but unfortunately, I didn't get much resolution. In the end, there is still volcanic ash in the sky meaning there will be no future food production whenever the cans of food that magically appear at city hall are extinguished. It just extended their inevitable deaths. Just a mention that the sky was clearing would have been enough for me to hope. I also d...more I'm not sure whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. It's definitely a page turner. I found myself increasingly anxious for Miranda and her family, but unfortunately, I didn't get much resolution. In the end, there is still volcanic ash in the sky meaning there will be no future food production whenever the cans of food that magically appear at city hall are extinguished. It just extended their inevitable deaths. Just a mention that the sky was clearing would have been enough for me to hope. I also didn't mind that she never figured out what happened to Dan and her dad, but she could have at least asked about a letter from her dad at city hall. Then if nothing was there, I would have assumed that something happened to her father and leave it at that, but she goes downtown to ask and then nothing.

It made me sad that everyone knew Jonny was the one to survive if it came down to one. I wanted a reason for Jonny instead of Matt or Miranda, something more than he was the youngest and a boy. That Miranda knew that and when she confronted her mother she didn't say anything to deny it or comfort her bugged me about her. I didn't always like her mother, but I didn't always like Miranda either, which just made them realistic portrayals of mother and daughter. I enjoyed the unfolding of the characters as much as I enjoyed the plot unfolding.

The story was frightening and made me want to go out and double-stock my food storage. A lot of the daily trials that I hadn't considered popped up in the story. Miranda's mom was smart, getting right on the ball buying up all the supplies they needed, but even then, I kept thinking that their food supply should have run out long before—and they were the ones who bothered stocking up. How was everyone else surviving? I know how the preacher was surviving, but I wish there had been some follow up with him too, some discovery that he had died in the flu epidemic. I wanted her to find out how many people in her town survived. Now that city hall was open and they had food, they could have asked. It's good that the book made me question so many things, I just wish a few of my questions had been answered.

On a sidenote, Pfeffer's statement that people who turn to God in times of grief brainwashed and stupid rubbed me the wrong way. There's also her obvious portrayal of Bush as an idiot hiding out on his ranch in Texas telling everyone that everything was okay. That didn't bother me as much as I just didn't think this was the place for such strong political (or religious) statements. It added character to the story for sure. I just didn't like it. Religion and politics, the two taboo topics and all that.

The book had a lot of promise, but I wanted more. More from Miranda, more explanation of what was going on, and more of a conclusion. Not more as in I loved the story and want to continue it. More as in if Pfeffer had answered a few things for me than maybe I would be curious, but she left too much open for me to go on.(less)

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Apr 09, 2008 Harry rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Tennage girls that like reading dictionary-diarys

Shelves: books-ive-read

Now I know a one star is pretty bad but when I put my cursor over the one star it says didn't like it and I did not like this book at all. I'm not going to go into full detail because it would torture me but heres the plot: You are reading about a family that lives in Pennsylvania and the character Miranda is a teenage girl living with her mom and brother. Scientists say that a meteor is going to hit the moon, and everyone doesn't really care about being a doomsday because the scientists say the...more

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Oct 08, 2012 David rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, post-apocalyptic, science-fiction, female-protagonist, survival, teenagers

Imagine Armageddon directed by Catherine Hardwicke instead of Michael Bay. Life As We Knew It is an end-of-the-world scenario told through the eyes of a teenage girl, who writes down everything that happens in amazingly long and detailed diary entries, which become increasingly implausible as she writes multi-page narratives about how she just dragged her entire sick family out of a smoke-filled sunroom while on the verge of starving to death herself.

This is not a bad book -- it's got a voice th...more Imagine Armageddon directed by Catherine Hardwicke instead of Michael Bay. Life As We Knew It is an end-of-the-world scenario told through the eyes of a teenage girl, who writes down everything that happens in amazingly long and detailed diary entries, which become increasingly implausible as she writes multi-page narratives about how she just dragged her entire sick family out of a smoke-filled sunroom while on the verge of starving to death herself.

This is not a bad book -- it's got a voice that will speak to teen readers (though I think that voice sounds more like Mom than that of an actual teenage girl) and it's got moments of drama and a heartwarming hope-will-carry-you-through message. But speaking as someone whose YA reading when I was a teen was more along the lines of Robert Heinlein, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and (oh, the shame!) Piers Anthony, I found Life As We Knew It to be a rather dumbed-down apocalypse in which the author pulled her punches every time. All the horror is abstracted away; Miranda knows bad things are happening out in the world, but she's never confronted with any real terror-filled moments, and the most of her suffering boils down to hunger and boredom.

Miranda's family are the antithesis of Heinlein characters -- where Heinlein's protagonists are omni-competent superheroes who are supposed to teach you that humans can survive anything with enough determination and resourcefulness, Miranda and her family basically sit in their house rationing their hoarded food and hoping someone will show up to turn the power back on and feed them, teaching you that the only hope in a crisis is the government. (If you think with this little rant that I'm some kind of anti-government libertarian, my fondness for Heinlein juveniles notwithstanding, you are so off-base, but the passivity and helplessness of these characters just annoyed me no end.) Pfeffer wanted to make us feel what the end of the world might be like for an ordinary teenager, and in that she succeeded, but quite frankly, an ordinary teenager isn't likely to survive a situation like that.

I gave this book two stars because it annoyed me with the lack of any proactive action and the convenient ending that only reinforced the whole wait-for-help message of the book, but I have to admit that I believed in Miranda as a character, she was pretty sympathetic, and the book is a page-turner that moves right along. I think a younger reader would probably enjoy it a lot more; this is one of those Young Adult novels that just isn't likely to have much appeal for a grown-up who's read any real science fiction.(less)

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May 06, 2008 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews, jens-personal-read, trt-gold-star-award-winner

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

If you're looking for one of the best books of 2006, then look no further than Susan Beth Pfeffer's LIFE AS WE KNEW IT. A wonderful tale of family love, loss, and survival, this is one story that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

There have been lots of changes in sixteen-year-old Miranda's life recently. Her older brother, Matt, is away at college. Her mom is still adjusting to being a divorced parent. Her younger brother, Jonny, is ob...more Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

If you're looking for one of the best books of 2006, then look no further than Susan Beth Pfeffer's LIFE AS WE KNEW IT. A wonderful tale of family love, loss, and survival, this is one story that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

There have been lots of changes in sixteen-year-old Miranda's life recently. Her older brother, Matt, is away at college. Her mom is still adjusting to being a divorced parent. Her younger brother, Jonny, is obsessed with baseball. And her dad and his new wife, Lisa, are expecting a baby. Dealing with all of that has been quite stressful, but Miranda's been thinking about getting back into ice-skating, and she's spending plenty of time mooning over her current hero/crush, Olympic-hopeful Brandon Erlich, a hometown hero.

Miranda's also excited about the meteor that's headed towards the Moon. Some scientists predict a minor collision; teachers predict plenty of extra homework dealing with the subjects of both Moon and meteors. For Miranda and her family, and for millions of others around the world, it simply sounds like a cool event you'll get to watch from your front yard through a pair of binoculars.

What happens on that fateful night is something no one expected. The meteor does, in fact, collide with the Moon. However, the impact was stronger than anyone had previously thought possible, and immediately, all throughout planet Earth, the effects of that collision begin to be felt. Tides, which are controlled by the Moon, become erratic, causing deadly tidal waves. Fissures in the Earth's crust crack, causing earthquakes worldwide, even in places where no earthquakes had ever occurred before. Within twenty-four hours, it becomes apparent that thousands upon thousands of people have died, and that, with the Moon out of its normal orbit, many more deaths are sure to follow.

This may sound like a depressing story, but in fact it's a story about hope and survival. LIFE AS WE KNEW IT follows Miranda and her family through nearly a year after the meteor's collision with the Moon, and all of the events that come after it--the power outages, the food shortages, the weather changes, and the loss of human contact. As Miranda and her family come to grips with this new way of living, their bodies and spirits will be tested more than they've ever been before. But this is ultimately a story about learning to survive with what you've got, and never taking what you have for granted. A wonderful, inspiring story, LIFE AS WE KNEW IT is one you'll want to read more than once. (less)

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Nov 11, 2012 April rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, ya, dystopian

I am in love with the post-apocalyptic dystopian genre. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer is a fine piece of YA post-apocalyptica. Life As We Knew It takes the format of a journal written by Miranda who is sixteen and living a super-normal life until in the space of a single day, everything changes.
Read the rest of my review here

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Oct 26, 2008 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Life As We Knew It is told in diary entries of the main character Miranda. Miranda lives like we do, in a society of cell phones, internet, satellite tv, grocery stores and gas stations. But suddenly her life takes a major change.

You see there was a meteor that was scheduled to hit the moon. No big deal though, if you’ve ever seen the moon, you can see all the damage from meteors and asteroids right on the surface. Well it just so happens that this particular meteor. was a lot more dense then th...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Cici rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I've come to realize why I am addicted to these types of books, for years I've had nightmares about the world ending or some kind of disaster where I'm trying to save my kids and sometimes other people. I do know that I have these nightmares when I am stressed out and overwhelmed and that's what the dream is symbolizing(something in my life is out of control) and me trying to save people symbolizes that I'm trying to get it under control. I used to be huge into dreams and their meanings. But, st...more I've come to realize why I am addicted to these types of books, for years I've had nightmares about the world ending or some kind of disaster where I'm trying to save my kids and sometimes other people. I do know that I have these nightmares when I am stressed out and overwhelmed and that's what the dream is symbolizing(something in my life is out of control) and me trying to save people symbolizes that I'm trying to get it under control. I used to be huge into dreams and their meanings. But, still these dreams are so real and scary that I will think about them for days. It also terrifies me that this could really happen to me and my loved ones. So, I guess reading these types of books gives me a little hope that we could survive, as crazy as that may seem.

Life as we knew it, wow, it's pretty amazing. When I first started reading it I thought it was just ok(before all the action started) but then it had this snowball affect and just kept getting better and better and better. I'm impressed at where this author has taken me and all the emotions I felt along the way. When these characters were starving, I couldn't even eat, that's how attached I felt to these characters. When Miranda bursts into laughter after hysteria and panic, I totally get it, I've had these same emotions plenty.

This story is told thorugh Miranda's diary. Miranda is a 16-year old normal girl, who lives with her mother and two brothers.

She's been writing about her family, her friends, interests, homework and all the excitement over the meteor that's going to be hitting the moon.

When this huge meteor hits the moon it knocks the moon out of orbit and causes a lot of world disasters. Tsunamis are hitting everywhere and then there's crazy storms and soon volcanic erruptions and volcanic ash covering the world, servere climate changes, states are just gone, submerged under water. So many people have died and the ones still alive are struggling to survive.

Stores are being ransacked, gasoline prices are crazy unbelievable(like $75 for 3 gallons of gas), electricity is almost non-existent and it's a matter of time before food and water runs out.

The main characters are strong and also very normal, family-next-door type. The kids grow up pretty quickly and learn to make sacrifices and value life.

This book really makes you appreciate the little things and important things in life.
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Jun 13, 2011 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, favorites, post-apocalyptic-dystopian

I really enjoyed this book. This was one of those books that as soon as I saw it, I knew I was going to like it. I had seen this book years ago actually in the bookstore, but never got it. I don't remember why.

Anyway, I thought the book was really well done and I like that something simple, but factual was used to get the story going. Some dystopian novels aren't too realistic or not enough research is done. In this case, as I said something simple, but factual was used. The moon controls tides...more I really enjoyed this book. This was one of those books that as soon as I saw it, I knew I was going to like it. I had seen this book years ago actually in the bookstore, but never got it. I don't remember why.

Anyway, I thought the book was really well done and I like that something simple, but factual was used to get the story going. Some dystopian novels aren't too realistic or not enough research is done. In this case, as I said something simple, but factual was used. The moon controls tides because of its gravitational pull and in the book a meteor hits the moon, a powerful meteor and the moon suddenly becomes extremely close. So close that it's scary, not just because of how near it seems to be, but also because of everything that it causes.

The drastic changes in the weather were scary and very realistic to me. It was made more realistic because this book was written in diary format. So it was easier to feel closer to Miranda and her family and see what hardships they were up against. But it was particularly realistic to me because as I was reading this book and getting immersed in all the struggles that Miranda and her family had to go through, the weather actually changed drastically in real life and some of the animals were being strange, like the birds. In the same week, the weather had been nice, then I wake up the next day and for the next few days, the weather shot up to close to 100. And for some reason as that happened, I was in the part of the book where the weather was getting unbearably hot. And the electricity went out for me at one point because most of the ACs in the house were on. And all I did was blow dry my hair, I didn't even have anything else plugged in in my room. So it made me think a lot and it scared me. Because even though the moon isn't closer to earth as in the book, the weather is changing because of global warming. And taking a moment to think about these changes, it's easy to conclude that we can go through the same things as Miranda and her family because of this.

Think about this. So much more electricity is being used than before because of the ever increasing development of technology. And on top of that because of the weather changes because winters are lasting longer and summer is starting earlier, more electricity is being used. So if the weather keeps changing this way, wouldn't it be possible to start running out of things because we are using them so much more than normal? Electricity is produced through power stations which use natural gas, coal, or oil. These things won't last forever. In fact, even though there are people in denial, these supplies are in fact gradually depleting because we already use so much of it. Also burning coal, gas, oil, etc. adds to the greenhouse effect which in turn causes global warming. And not only are these supplies being exhausted, but also other resources. Like trees.

I sort of connected this book to The Windup Girl, one of my favorite books of all time, which is about how global warming has affected the world a lot and a lot of natural resources have been exhausted. Life As We Knew It is almost like what could have possibly happened that made the world of The Windup Girl exist. I liked that I was able to connect these books together.

Anyway, what I also liked about this book was that there is not so much action/drama going on, yet it is still compelling. Some people might find it boring, but life isn't like the movies. Think about movies like 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow, where so much action/drama happened which is entertaining, but if the world is possibly ending, how much drama can there actually be? I seriously doubt people are going to be having drama, if there are more important things to worry about like keeping warm and finding more food. So I really liked that this book didn't have much of that, but it still kept me entertained. I imagined being bored, lonely, and feeling claustrophobic because of the things that Miranda kept losing. Things that we take for granted. To keep warm, they all had to stay in one room. She lost privacy. To try to survive longer and because the weather kept changing, they had to stay inside a lot where there wasn't that much to do. Or I should say not fun/entertaining things to do. How would we survive in a world like this? Would we even survive? Because even though food and water are most important in a situation like this there are also other things to consider. Like how long can we survive feeling claustrophobic? How long can we survive feeling despair? Depression? Would we kill ourselves because of this?

I wished though that I would have gotten a better sense of the rest of the world. What were other countries and people going through? How much of the world was left? Then again, if we really were in this situation and things were that bad, would we even have a way of knowing any of this information?

I'm hoping to get the next two books in this series. Hope they are good.

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Sep 06, 2011 Stephanie (Stepping out of the Page) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: series-or-companions, read-in-2011, sci-fi, young-adult, title-appeal, better-than-expected, lasting-impression, dystopian, apocalyptic, books-i-own

This is a fantastic dystopian novel by Pfeffer which I really enjoyed reading. When I first began reading the book, I didn't feel particularly enamoured by the protagonist, Miranda, or her writing. However, after reading on for only a little while, I found myself absolutely absorbed into the story. One of the great things about this book is that it's realistic and I could actually imagine it happening - it's quite unnerving in that aspect. It's not hard to put yourself in Miranda's position and...more

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May 13, 2011 Stacey (prettybooks) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-after-university, dystopian-or-post-apocalyptic, read-in-my-twenties, young-adult-fiction

I warn you, this is going to make me sound a little odd, if not insane: I read this book in bed, on the way to work, whenever I had free time. I’d be walking along the road thinking about how it’s probably good that someone shared their lunch with me today because we need to save food. And it’s really grey today. Damn those volcanic ash clouds blocking the sun. I imagined all the food we’d stock up on. What would be like to bring back cars full of tinned and jarred food? I need to remember to st...more I warn you, this is going to make me sound a little odd, if not insane: I read this book in bed, on the way to work, whenever I had free time. I’d be walking along the road thinking about how it’s probably good that someone shared their lunch with me today because we need to save food. And it’s really grey today. Damn those volcanic ash clouds blocking the sun. I imagined all the food we’d stock up on. What would be like to bring back cars full of tinned and jarred food? I need to remember to stock up on chocolate.

And then I’d snap out of it (“Wait. What?”). I felt so completely absorbed in this novel that I actually felt like it was happening to me. It is told in diary form, which reminded me of first-hand accounts that they show on the news when there’s some sort of catastrophe, like with the recent tsunami disaster in Japan. These accounts make you understand what’s happening to different groups of people without being there. That’s what was happening with me.

The story is very simply told (which I found realistic as 16-year-olds’ diaries often aren’t literary masterpieces), and it won’t convert you if you dislike young-adult literature, but I think this is why I felt more engaged with it. It is very different from adult post-apocalyptic fiction, such as The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It is less brutal and less harrowing, but that’s probably why I could relate to it more. I was so disengaged with the events happening in The Road, which meant that it had less of an impact on me, whereas Life As We Knew is about a family struggling to cope after a meteor crashes into the moon, causing the orbit to be altered. Civilisation isn’t wiped out completely but it forces people to adapt very quickly to a utterly different way of daily living. The family is only able to find out what’s happening in the rest of the world (many, many deaths, famine, volcanic eruptions, flooding) through rare radio broadcasts. Mostly, it’s just Miranda’s thoughts and her account of life with her mother and her two brothers, confined to their home, wondering if they’re going to live or die.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can see why it has received so much praise. I’m unsure as to whether I’ll read the next two books, The Dead and the Gone and This World We Live In , as the reviews are pretty bad. But we’ll see. I’m now really excited about the prospect of reading more YA post-apocalyptic novels such as America Pacifica and Ashes, Ashes . Hooray! Another genre to love.

Dystopian or Not Dystopian? Not Dystopian(less)

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Sep 09, 2010 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: not-mine-library, young-adult, dystopian

I am so not as prepared for the end of the world as I thought I was!

Years and years ago, I had a massive platonic crush on a girl named Micheala. She was awesome…. She had bright orange dreadlocks and rode an orange, sparkly motorcycle (and knew how to fix it!) She grew her own veggies, canned them, made pottery, knew how to knit, how to make paper, how to make her own cat food, she was making a loom so she could make her own cloth for clothes... not that she actually did all of this stuff on a...more I am so not as prepared for the end of the world as I thought I was!

Years and years ago, I had a massive platonic crush on a girl named Micheala. She was awesome…. She had bright orange dreadlocks and rode an orange, sparkly motorcycle (and knew how to fix it!) She grew her own veggies, canned them, made pottery, knew how to knit, how to make paper, how to make her own cat food, she was making a loom so she could make her own cloth for clothes... not that she actually did all of this stuff on a regular basis. But she had the equipment and the knowledge. One day, she confessed to me that she had a day dream about the end of the world and being able to be totally self sufficient while everything else was a shambles. She was my hero, I thought she was amazing. (Did I mention that I smoked a lot of pot when I was younger?? ;))

It’s been years since Micheala & I have hung out, and I’m lately too busy with regular life to continue learning all of these crazy handmade crafts that I used to be so fascinated in. But I still love dystopian, apocalyptic stories. So, of course Life as We Knew It is right up my alley. The moon being knocked into a different orbit & irreversibly changing conditions on earth is just about as big of an apocalypse as there is. Susan Beth Pfeffer provided plenty of natural disasters to make life in northeastern PA pretty grim and crappy. Miranda is a likeable character with a voice that is easy to read. She is an incredibly realistic teenager ~ self involved, not too aware of the world around her. But as others have pointed out, this story, while mesmerizing, falls a little flat. There is no climax, no controversy. Although I appreciate the realness of Miranda not knowing or caring to know the condition of the world around her… I want to know! Even so, I enjoyed reading about the trials Miranda & her family faced and how they dealt with them.

I am definitely reading the second in this series. Hopefully Miranda and her family will learn more about becoming self-sufficient (I wonder why they didn’t turn to the library for survival books?)Maybe there will be some tension, a love interest, and more natural disasters. But if not, I’m sure I will continue to read and use this as both a reference and a check list… better safe than sorry, right? ;)
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Jun 16, 2011 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dying-to-read, dystopia, nook-books

If you want a book to humble you, this is it. This books takes you through the hard times a girl faces when a meteor hits the moon and pushes the moon closer to Earth, throwing everything off. Miranda had a good life, a normal, mundane life, but a fairly darn good one compared to the life she is going to be thrusted into. She has a laundry machines, computer, tv, everything someone in the modern world needs to survive.

Big whoop, you might say, practically everyone has those things, and we don't...more If you want a book to humble you, this is it. This books takes you through the hard times a girl faces when a meteor hits the moon and pushes the moon closer to Earth, throwing everything off. Miranda had a good life, a normal, mundane life, but a fairly darn good one compared to the life she is going to be thrusted into. She has a laundry machines, computer, tv, everything someone in the modern world needs to survive.

Big whoop, you might say, practically everyone has those things, and we don't call that the good life. Yeah, well do you ever think of how much you take advantage of those little things. How about doing the laundry by hand? Have ya ever thought of that? How about how dependant we are on electricity? What would we really have without electricity?

All these things are stripped from Miranda's life the day the meteor collides with the moon. Miranda and her family are forced to survive on their own, with no outside help. They stockpile food and ration water, but is that enough to make it through the harsh, freezing winter?

This book really shows us how precious and valuable life and hope are through the struggles of Miranda and her family.

A very, very good book. I didn't so much like how it was written in a journal format. It just didn't work for me at least. The writing wasn't the best and it was pretty dull at points, but I love the concept and the plot. This book will really make you rethink how we are living in this life as we know it and how fragile this world is. We should take every moment to be thankful for what we have.

Okay two things I absolutely did NOT like: How Miranda's mom was always hating on the president and how crappy it makes religion look.

Okay really. The president living on a farm in Texas. Clearly Bush. You don't have to hate on him. Honestly, it just made the mom look like and idiot calling the president an idiot. You want to try to run the country? How dumb would you look when you won't even understand half the words and propositions in Capital Hill or whatever. It takes a strong man to lead the country. No idiot is just going to get the job by chance. So stop being a hater, Miranda's mom. Haters never win and winners never hate.

I am an avid Christain. I believe Jesus is the savior, and only through Him can we get eternal life in Heaven. I really didn't like how every time religion came up, Miranda doesn't even consider it. She doesn't even think about the true reason of life, she just brushes it off as stupid. She really makes it look like Megan is dumb because she is starving herself. If I really felt that God was telling me to starve so there would be food for my mother, I would do it. There is so much more to life than the pleasures of this world (e.g. food). Shoot, there is so much more to this life than living. Death is a blessing if you're a Christain. Okay, the revrend guy was a jerk, I will give you that. I just really don't like how she made it look like religion was horrible and so terribly bad and she wouldn't want to believe in a god who made all these horrible things happen. There's a verse in the Bible (I don't know it offhand) and it's like through the good times you forget Me, but in the bad times you turn to me. And everything is for the glory of God, and if complete world chaos is what it takes for people to turn back to God, than that's what it takes. I just don't like them dissing religion, it's not cool.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 19, 2007 Joel Bass rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People interested in Anne Frank, disaster stories, family stories

Miranda, a 16-year-old girl in Pennsylvania, writes in her diary about her frustrations with her mom, her fixation on a handsome Olympic figure skater, her friends at school, and the upcoming astronomical event her teachers are encouraging the kids to watch: an asteroid will hit the moon, and should be visible from Earth. Miranda and her family watch that night, with others on their street, as the moon is not only hit but pushed into a new orbit. Cheers turn to screams as the moon grows disarmin...more

6 likes · like · see review

Oct 28, 2007 Colleen Venable rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007-read, ya-fiction

As far as story goes and the ability to give me nightmares this book is a five. I was talking about it non-stop while reading it, and can't seem to get a big ol' knot in my stomach every time I look up at the sky now. My one big problem with the book was the main character...which being "main" truly is a big problem. If Miranda was 12 or 13 I would have been much more into the story, but as a 16 year old she was completely unbelievable. I spent half of my time saying "a 16 year old would know th...more

4 likes · like · see review

Nov 20, 2007 Lisa Vegan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone who enjoys sci-fi, ages 11 & up

Shelves: reviewed, fiction, favorites, novel, speculative-fiction, young-adult

Kids’ sci-fi, told in a way that seemed plausible to me. Loved Miranda’s first person voice in the form of her diary entries and the wonderful depiction of the characters’ ingenuity, courage, sacrifice & family ties. While a serious and suspenseful story, I appreciated the humor, especially the more than tinges of irreverence that crop up frequently. I also enjoyed the jabs at current political leaders & culture but assume these references are broad enough that future generations of read...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jul 19, 2008 CLM rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, 21st-century, series

This book is so disturbing and so engrossing that when I went out to do errands this morning I felt at first as if I should be stocking up on food, water, and matches. Then I began to feel guilty about some of the wasted food I'd had to toss from my refrigerator. Then I came home and read the chapter where Miranda says goodbye to her father and is fairly sure she will never see him again, and I wished I had bought Kleenex...

I've been told the second book is even more disturbing but I can't stop...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 23, 2009 Robin Cicchetti rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-of-age, death, fantasy, fiction, post-apocalyptic, relationship

Top marks for this chilling YA novel about life after a global disaster. Could NOT put this book down! Written as a diary, Miranda tells about her life as a high school sophomore, living with her two brothers, single Mom, and her attempts to maintain a relationship with her Dad and his second (and pregnant) wife. Just as the characters are established an event occurs that changes things from "life as we know it' to "life as we knew it".
An asteroid has hit the moon, alerting its orbit and setting...more

4 likes · like · see review

Dec 13, 2012 Kristina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, 2012-goal-60

For the first half of this book I was all set for a five star rating. How many books draw you so far in that you start panicking over the price of gas because in the book it has gone to nearly $20 a gallon, or made you wonder if the grocery stores are open, or be so relieved to get home and see that you have electricity? That is the kind of emotion this book caused in me. As the main character was rushing through a store to gather as many groceries as she and her family could before the stores r...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 18, 2009 Sophia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-2010-reads-for-bcchs-advisory

**A meteor hits the moon closer to earth. Tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanoes erupt, and frost (cold weather) all over the world. People are dying and suffering, sicknesses are spreading, there’s a limited amount of food. Learn how one family struggles to survive through this hardship. This remarkable read is fast-paced, cleverly crafted as a diary, and is written by a relatable sixteen year old.

As an accelerated read, these events begin right from page nineteen. All you have to do is pick up th...more **A meteor hits the moon closer to earth. Tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanoes erupt, and frost (cold weather) all over the world. People are dying and suffering, sicknesses are spreading, there’s a limited amount of food. Learn how one family struggles to survive through this hardship. This remarkable read is fast-paced, cleverly crafted as a diary, and is written by a relatable sixteen year old.

As an accelerated read, these events begin right from page nineteen. All you have to do is pick up the book and the story plotline immediately starts. I guarantee that you will be in awe throughout the whole book. Teens these days don’t want to read 300 boring pages; they’d drop the book after the second chapter. The book must be a good attention-holder and quick to the point. Life As We Knew It meets the criteria.

The way the author formats this book is as a diary. Creative and crafty, this book is an easy, quick read making it the choice of books for modern teens. As it is a diary, full of voice and personal thoughts, you see the events from a very interesting view.

It is also in the voice of a sixteen year old, someone you could relate to and put yourself in the shoes of. Therefore, as a result of reading this, you will feel like you are a part of the story making it the more captivating.

Life As We Knew It is a book you’ll be reading at the edge of your seat; you won’t be able to put it down until you find out what happens in the end. Will the food last? Will anyone in the family die? Will the world stay forever this way? You won’t be at rest until you read the final chapter. It’s like the first bite of ice cream, and you just can’t get enough of it after or as quoted from the sixteen year old girl, Miranda’s diary, “I ripped open the bag and poured chocolate chips down my throat. I could hardly taste them, I was swallowing them so fast. I must have devoured a third of the bag before I could clam down enough to savor the taste. Chocolate. It tasted just the way I remembered only better. I couldn’t stop eating them.” Until the last cookie in the bag is finished, no one feel fully satisfied.
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Aug 04, 2012 OpenBookSociety.com rated it 4 of 5 stars

Review brought to you by OBS staff member Shae

Beware of spoilers

It has been well over a year since I have read Life As We Knew it. I know it seems too much time has passed to write a review, but to me it is as if I am just putting the book down. This story has stuck with me more than almost anything I have ever read.

The meteor hitting the moon, changing life and the world forver, seems like such a possibility in my lifetime. Books about other close to the end of the world disasters, are fun to r...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 09, 2011 Rae rated it 1 of 5 stars

I don't usually give 1 star unless I really hated the book. I really hated this book.

I'm a sucker for dystopian/end of the world books, let me tell you. I picked this one up at Barnes And Noble last summer in the hopes of finding another book I really loved, but unfortunately that was not the case. The most important part of an end-of-the-world thriller, in my opinion, is it's ability to make you think that it could actually happen. I found Pfeffer's story of the moon being knocked out of orbit...more I don't usually give 1 star unless I really hated the book. I really hated this book.

I'm a sucker for dystopian/end of the world books, let me tell you. I picked this one up at Barnes And Noble last summer in the hopes of finding another book I really loved, but unfortunately that was not the case. The most important part of an end-of-the-world thriller, in my opinion, is it's ability to make you think that it could actually happen. I found Pfeffer's story of the moon being knocked out of orbit so far-fetched that I could barely believe it from the very beginning.

CAUTION: there may be spoilers in this review, so if you haven't yet read this sorry excuse for a book, you might not want to continue reading.

My second problem with this book were the characters. We get to meet Miranda, the spoiled girl who gripes because her mother won't let her eat whatever she wants. We hear the whole story from her POV. Then there's her mother, who constantly attacks George W. Bush, refuses to watch Fox News even though it's the end of the world and CNN lost its news feed, and constantly drills into her children that they aren't to help anyone. No one. Miranda's little brother manages to go to baseball camp despite everything that's happening. One of Miranda's friends refuses to eat because she believes that "God will provide for her". And that's how everyone religious is portrayed in the book. Completely delusional wackos. I feel like Pfeffer's voice and opinions were coming through her characters, making them shallow and unbelievable.

The volcano in Yellowstone park erupts, but yet nothing happens except a little ash. ..Um, what? Tsunamis are threatening the entire coast, the death rate is rising, but yet Miranda's older brother and pregnant girlfriend manage to make it safely to their house. Miranda wanders the streets but never once gets mugged or even close to it. A dangerous virus rages, killing almost everyone who contracts it. Everyone in Miranda's family gets it except her, but yet no one dies. How convenient. The electricity flickers on at random times, and with it, the internet magically works. Even when the electricity is off, they have running water. It appears that Pfeffer didn't even research anything the slightest amount.

The story gets increasingly dull in the middle. Page after page after page of Miranda and her family living in their sunroom, surviving with nothing at all happening. I almost stopped reading then, but I still had hopes that maybe, just maybe, the book would redeem itself at the end. It didn't. Miranda's family had finally run out of food, and she was walking the streets, expecting to die. But to her luck, she makes her way to the city hall. We've already been told that crops aren't making it, the food supplies are dwindling, and basically, there's nothing left. But lo and behold, the city hall is giving out a bag of food every Monday! Now where did this food come from? This is only one mystery of Pfeffer's failed dystopian world. I found myself left with a disappointed feeling, a book I hated, and a wasted $7.95.

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9 likes · like · see review

May 14, 2011 Regina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, horror-youth, series-and-sequels-ya

Perhaps the most frightening thing about this story, as with M.T. Anderson's Feed, is that it could possibly be more accurate than even the author is aware. Chilling.

After the first twenty pages, you will never look at the moon the same again. Author Susan Beth Pfeffer, bravely takes on the topic of environmental apocalypse with a freshness and somehow comfortable humor that is all but infectious upon reading. Set in modern times, seventeen-year-old Miranda is more concerned with the amount of...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 16, 2011 Parajunkee.com rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, favorites

Touching. Full of hope, yet incredibly heart-breaking. Hits close to home. This could happen to anyone. Makes you realize how much we take for granted. Puts things in perspective. Sobbing at work. I want to race through this series.

Life as We Knew It

Never an easy read, Post-Apoaolytpic dramas are something you should mentally prepare for. I could have never prepared myself for Pfeffer's LIFE AS WE KNEW IT. Pfeffer's first Survivor's Novel was a heart-wrenching look into one families decent into...more Touching. Full of hope, yet incredibly heart-breaking. Hits close to home. This could happen to anyone. Makes you realize how much we take for granted. Puts things in perspective. Sobbing at work. I want to race through this series.

Life as We Knew It

Never an easy read, Post-Apoaolytpic dramas are something you should mentally prepare for. I could have never prepared myself for Pfeffer's LIFE AS WE KNEW IT. Pfeffer's first Survivor's Novel was a heart-wrenching look into one families decent into their own private Hell. The POV is from Miranda, a sixteen year old girl as if she is writing in her diary, at no point throughout the story did I doubt I was reading Miranda's words. Pfeffer's unique storytelling ability and her gift of portraying real family drama makes LAWKI a tale that resonates in me, I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. Pfeffer captured the essence of what life would be like in these circumstances and rubbed my nose it, no matter the consequences. I experienced it with Miranda and with it hoped that one day if I was faced with trials such as Miranda and her family went through that I would respond with as much courage as they did.

An asteroid hitting the moon was of no consequence to Miranda as LIFE AS WE KNEW IT begins. Her teachers talk of it and the news reports on the impending impact, constantly, but to Miranda it is only a passing interest. Until it happens. The scientists were wrong. The asteroid must have been denser than they thought, the moon is now much closer to the Earth than before the asteroid hit. With this change massive ecological changes are raining down on the planet, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, violent storms. Communications are down, the population is in a panic. Thinking fast, Miranda's mother grabs the kids from school and they go on a break-neck journey to secure as much food and supplies as they can get their hands on. It was decision that saved their lives…because as the world falls apart around them, Miranda and her family are alone, in a world gone mad. The only ones that can help them are themselves. They could starve to death, they could freeze to death… they don't know what the end will be, just as the food runs low, and the temperature drops, plagues, violence and more ecological disasters occur everyday, they pretty much know that death might be a lot sooner than later.

I'm still shivering just thinking about these books. I read all three back to back without breathing for three days in a row. My husband thought I was a lunatic by the end I thought I was a lunatic. I don't think I've ever been as emotionally involved with a group of characters. Maybe one or two out of a series, but I loved every single one of them. This is a novel you can't put off reading, yes there are some flaws, but the plot and emotional drama are so intense that you will look past all of it and just get immersed in the story. Read the books -- then buy some non-genetically modified seeds and stock up on MREs, because you can never be too prepared.

I did mention some flaws, so I feel obligated to mention them. Ok, first one, while in diary form, it was believable, but really it didn't strike me as how a young girl would write in her diary. There were moments when Pfeffer hit it on the head and I was like "Yeah, that is what I'm talking about." But, there were other times where she used a bit of creative license and forced some plot through. Secondly, and it might be just me the Southerner, but some of the narration just struck me as mature. It felt as if I was reading my grandmother's journal instead of a modern teens journal. I've never heard someone (but my granny) say "I'll grab my pocketbook." Just phrases like that seemed out of touch with today's youth. I have no problem with it…just thought I should mention it.

Recommends:
Fans of emotional dramas and books such as The Hunger Games should enjoy. There was nothing to be worried about from a parental stand-point, the books are squeaky clean.
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3 likes · like · see review

Oct 22, 2010 FlibBityFLooB rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, read-in-2010, dystopian, witty-i-am-not

I usually really enjoy a dystopian post-apoclyptic novel more than most, but this one left me cold on several fronts.

The basic gist of the story is an asteroid hits the moon and causes immense changes to the teenage heroine's lifestyle.

Issue 1: not enough mayhem ensues with the events in the story. I would easily expect more looting and depravity in this type of scenario. Everything seemed too put together. For example, the coastal regions are decimated ... yet internet access is still available...more

8 likes · like · see review

Dec 18, 2009 Tatiana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, ya, ala-ya-2007, series-dropped-lost-steam

"Life as We Knew It" is a teen book version of disaster movies such as "Armageddon," "2012," and "The Day After Tomorrow" told from a 16-year old girl's POV. Basically, you have a natural cataclysm that affects the entire planet and you follow a girl and her family through their day-to-day struggles to survive the aftermath.

The book is compelling in many ways. You find yourself imagining what you would do in Miranda’ situation. Like many have said in the reviews before me, you feel an urge to g...more

12 likes · like · see review

May 25, 2009 John Barrett rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

10 likes · like · see review

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Eileen Because the U.S. was, up until the bill passed, the only industrialized nation that did NOT guarantee healthcare as a right of citizenship. Among indu...more
13 avr. 14:14

John Barrett I never said that EVERYONE who can't afford healthcare just sits around. You said that.

I said that the government which has no money without taking it...more
15 avr. 21:59

Apr 27, 2012 Yvensong rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-and-children, audio, library, sf

This may not be one of the best books I've read, but it sure left its impact. I found myself involved with every crisis, small and big, that MC and her family faced. I wondered how I would face them. Would I have the fortitude to survive such a devastating hit upon the planet?

Sometimes the MC's attitude would get on my nerves, yet she is young, and I think the author did a good job capturing the mind of a young girl wanting everything to just go back to normal. She sometimes seemed spoiled, som...more

1 like · like · see review

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About Susan Beth Pfeffer

Susan Beth Pfeffer was born in New York City in 1948. She grew up in the city and its nearby suburbs and spent summers in the Catskill Mountains. When she was six her father wrote and published a book on constitutional law, and Pfeffer decided that she, too, wanted to be a writer. That year she wrote her first story, about the love between an Oreo cookie and a pair of scissors. However, it wasn't...more

More about Susan Beth Pfeffer...

Books by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The Dead and the Gone (Last Survivors, #2)

This World We Live In (Last Survivors, #3)

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Quotes from Life As We Knew It

“I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald's would still be open.” — 232 people liked it

“I wonder if I'll ever have to decide which is worse, life as we're living or no life at all.” — 154 people liked it

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