Life as We Knew It

Susan Beth Pfeffer

May 2008 · Life As We Knew It Series Book 1 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

New York Times bestseller! A heart-stopping post-apocalyptic thriller that's "absorbing from first to last page."*

When a meteor knocks the moon closer to earth, Miranda, a high school sophomore, takes shelter with her family.

Told in a year’s worth of journal entries, Life as We Knew It chronicles the human struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

As August turns dark and wintery in northeastern Pennsylvania, 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.

I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald’s still would be open. Like one marble hitting another, when the moon slams closer to earth, the result is catastrophic. Worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun.

Life as We Know It is an extraordinary series debut. The companion novels are: The Dead and the Gone, This World We Live In, and The Shade of the Moon.

(*Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Ratings and reviews

The setting takes place during the spring, in Pennsylvania where Miranda is excited about the asteroid hitting the moon. Everybody’s excited about it, until the moon crashes closer into orbit and the astronomers realize that the miscalculated the outcomes of it. Soon many places start submerging under water because of the tidal waves. Many places are being burned down because of the massive volcano eruptions. Houses being torned down because of the earthquakes. Miranda has to learn how to deal with all of this, staying united with her family, growing up in a short amount of time, taking care of her family when they fall sick, and learning how to get through the end. PLOT The story Life as We Knew It is a novel about how things go wrong when you least expect it. In The book, Miranda has to deal with the whole “coming to end of the world “situation in where she learns that surviving is not as easy as it seems. She has to deal with her dad and stepmother having a baby, and the moon crashing closer into orbit. All of a sudden her boring world turns out into something exciting. Although not the type of exciting she wanted. Miranda is stuck inside her house with her mom, and two brothers, fighting about different things. She may still go to school but she knows that things will never be the same again. Having to eat just a peanut butter jelly sandwich at school and down to one meal a day, she knows that she will not be able to resist for much longer. The food is running out and there are no stores open since everybody has fled to try to save themselves. Having to keep her mind of food, she starts realizing how easy things were back then before the moon crashed and how she always had seemed to complain about something. Miranda keeps on growing skinnier and weaker, having to “ share one can of soup among the four” and with the winter coming up, things will not get any easier. THEME The main theme in this story is that one must always learn to fight to survive. And that even though things do not always go as we plan, they all happen for a reason. For the better or worse. One has to learn how to deal with unexpected things with life. For some people it might be family problems such as divorces or overcoming traumas, unwanted things in life, for Miranda, it is a natural disaster, having to deal with all of the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and the worldwide tidal waves. Miranda had to eat little unlike her little brother so there would be more food left. Many people would say that it is unfair, but they did it to make sure that he would survive, that he would resist. Many people would not be able to understand what Miranda did, she was able to sacrifice herself so that the people she loved would be able to stay healthier. This book is mainly to inspire readers that even though situations seem really difficult at times, at one point or another life will get better. RECOMMENDATION I would recommend this book to all the people who like to read realistic fiction. It is a really good book for people to see how when natural disasters happen, it might not be the end of the world if you keep having faith and you stay united with your family.

this is one of the best books i have evr read. think that the great think about it it talks about what is really imprortant in life. It also tell of how family all ways should come first and somtimes u are going to have to give some thing up i love this book and i think lost of other people shoudl read it.- Emily Kullman

It is a very good book. It pulls you in and you can't put it down. 'Life as we know it' was like a hungry animal that didn't want to let go of its prey. Afterwards I kept thinking that my world was like hers and was never going to be the same again. I think that if that happened to me, I wouldn't be as strong as Miranda, and would have been able to get through all of it. She is the real life hero that everyone wishes to be once in their life.

About the author

Susan Beth Pfeffer is the author of many books for teens, including the New York Times best-selling novel Life As We Knew It, which was nominated for several state awards, and its companion books, The Dead and the Gone, This World We Live In, and The Shade of the Moon. She lives in Middletown, New York.