Rose Under Fire, Elizabeth Wein

Title: Rose Under Fire
Author: Elizabeth Wein
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Year: 2013
Pages: 368
Genre: Historical Fiction
Themes: World War II, the Holocaust, Survival
Age Range: 7th through 10th Grade

Summary: 
Rose Justice is a pilot and poet. She is responsible for flying planes from France to England as part of the British army during World War II. During one of her missions, she is captured by German soldiers and taken to Ravensbruck, the notorious women's concentration camp. While there, she must find a way to survive, relying on the kindness of her fellow prisoners. Can she find the strength to withstand the terrible, terrifying conditions in the camp with her humanity and love of beauty intact?

Review:
This book is written at a fairly low reading level for the subject matter, but it is definitely a book that is best used in a setting where the students have some level of maturity, and enough background knowledge of World War II and the Holocaust to give them the ability to understand the underlying themes of the book. That said, I loved this book! There have been many, many books written about the Holocaust, as there should be. It is such a defining period in the 20th century, and only by revisiting it can we hope to prevent it from happening again. Sadly, there have been too many examples of similar atrocities being perpetrated around the world (the Rwandan genocide; the killings in Darfur, Sudan; the Srebrenica massacre, etc...etc...), but Hitler's concentration camps seem to have made a special impression on the minds and souls of much of the world, especially in Europe and the United States. This book stands out for me for two reasons. One, it deals with a female pilot. I suspect that there are many young people who don't realize that women were involved in the war effort in that way, and any time we can lift up the contributions of women I am all for it. Second, it specifically focuses on a women's concentration camp, which is something else that I think if fairly unique in literature for children and youth about the Holocaust.

What Rose and her fellow prisoners endured in Ravensbruck can be hard to read. But it should be. I hope we as a society never get to a place where we can feel comfortable reading about the deprivation, terror, and torture that took place in the camps. But that discomfort can lead to some great discussions with students about the nature of evil, the strength of the human spirit, the meaning of perseverance, and the value of art in human society. I'd recommend this book for use in guided reading, literature circles, or book clubs for middle school or early high-school youth.

Teacher Resources: 
Disney Hyperion Study Guide
Review and Author Interview
Elizabeth Wein's Blog

The Scorch Trial, James Dashner

Title:  The Scorch Trials
Author:  James Dashner
Publisher:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Year:  2010
Pages:  360
Genre:  Dystopian Science Fiction
Themes:  Survival
Age Range:  6th Grade and Up

Summary:  (from Goodreads)

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to...

 Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Review:
The second book in this series reads and feels very similar to the first.  Thomas and the other Gladers soon discover that getting out of the Maze was only the first step in survival.  WICKED, the shadowy organization that set up the trials, is not done with them yet.  And if the first book was violent, the second takes that violence up a notch.  Violent lightning storms literally blow people's limbs off, deranged sufferers of the Flare sound a lot like the walkers from The Walking Dead, and we once again have hideous monsters created by WICKED to force the young people to fight or die.  While it all seems very sinister, there are constant reminders throughout the book that the trials are supposed to be a good thing; that they are weeding out the weakest to find the future leaders to save the planet.  But no pressure or anything...

As an adult reader I found the increase in tension and intensity in the plot enjoyable, but it may be too much for readers on the bottom end of the readability band for this book.  However, it does bring up all od the same rich topics for discussion as most other high-quality dystopian fiction.  Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?  What responsibility does each of us carry for our fellow humanity?  Is it acceptable to subject people to violence-physical or psychological-in the service of the greater good?  I think this series would make a good choice for a book club discussions in a school or library setting, especially in middle school or early in high school.

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner

Title:  The Maze Runner
Author:  James Dashner
Publisher:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Year:  2009
Pages:  374
Genre:  Dystopian Science Fiction
Themes:  Survival, Adventure
Age Range:  9th Grade and Up

Summary:  (from Goodreads)
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. 

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

Review:  
With the enormous amount of dystopian young adult fiction out there, it is not hard to find a book or series that appeals to anyone who loves dystopian literature.  I loved the Hunger Games series, the Unwind series,  and I'm right in the thick of the Divergent series right now.  But Maze Runner fell short for me, for reasons that I'm not sure I can accurately articulate.

Part of it goes to the fact that there is a male protagonist, while most of the other books in this genre that I love (those mentioned above as well as Life As We Knew It and This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer) have female protagonists.  While I don't usually find the gender of the main character problematic, the whole feel of this book is a little testosterone heavy for me.  That said, I'm sure there are  young adult males who find the female protagonists of those other books I mentioned not a perfect fit for them.  If you are looking for a dystopian series that will appeal to male readers, then The Maze Runner and its sequels are probably a good investment.

My other issues with the book have to do with the nature of the plot itself.  It reads like a straightforward story of survival against an oppressive "other"-the Creators-but I found that I was not necessarily buying the underlying premise.  At least, not until the end, when thing started to make a bit more sense.  But even those revelations felt a bit contrived, with some deus ex machina thrown in in the form of an unknown narrator who is only present a few times throughout the book to provide some sense of what might be going on behind the scenes.  It left me feeling as though all of the heroism of the characters was for naught, since there were people behind the scenes continuing to pull their strings that they were unaware of.  

While I did not love this book, I didn't hate it either.  I suspect that there are those who follow this series as faithfully as I followed The Hunger Games or Divergent.    I think it is a good addition to a classroom library, but I'm not sure there is enough substance there to make it a good book to use in classroom discussions.

UnWholly, by Neal Shusterman

Title:  UnWholly

Author:  Neal Shusterman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster for Young Readers
Year:  2012
Pages:  416
Themes:  Social Justice, Morality, Survival, Identity
Age Range:  8th grade and Above

Summary:  from Goodreads

Thanks to Connor, Lev, and Risa—and their high-profile revolt at Happy Jack Harvest Camp—people can no longer turn a blind eye to unwinding. Ridding society of troublesome teens while simltaneously providing much-needed tissues for transplant might be convenient, but its morality has finally been brought into question. However, unwinding has become big business, and there are powerful political and corporate interests that want to see it not only continue, but also expand to the unwinding of prisoners and the impoverished.

Cam is a product of unwinding; made entirely out of the parts of other unwinds, he is a teen who does not technically exist. A futuristic Frankenstein, Cam struggles with a search for identity and meaning and wonders if a rewound being can have a soul. And when the actions of a sadistic bounty hunter cause Cam’s fate to become inextricably bound with the fates of Connor, Risa, and Lev, he’ll have to question humanity itself.

Review:
If you read Unwind, you know that Shusterman has created an alternate history for America that includes a violent war between pro-choice and pro-life forces that led to the Unwind Accords-abortion is illegal when the child is a fetus, but when the child turns 13 parents can decide to retroactively abort their child through a process called unwinding, and all of the teens organs and tissue will be donated.

When discussing UnWholly, Shusterman said that he never intended for Unwind to become a trilogy, but he just couldn't let the story go.  This novel continues the themes introduced in the first book.  At its most basic level, the unwind culture is about what defines being human.  Despite being set in a fictional future, Shusterman draws on the current debate about the power of corporations, both in our government and in society at large, as well as the debate about privatizing education (which in itself is at least partly also about corporate power).  The addition of Cam as a completely made up "person" brings a new level to the discussion of the morality of unwinding.  It's hard to argue that people's lives are saved by the constant flow of "donated" organs and tissue, but just because technology allows us to create new life from old, does that mean we should?  And if we do, then can there be such a thing as a "soul" as religious people define it, as coming from the divine?  This book would make a great choice for a book club discussion for teens (or grown-ups who love books for teens...you know who you are!).

Roxie and the Hooligans, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Title:  Roxie and the Hooligans
Author:  Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Publisher:  Aladdin
Year:  2006
Genre:  Realistic(ish) Fiction
Themes:  Adventure
Age Range:  3nd-5th Grade


Summary: (from Goodreads)

Do not panic.Lord Thistlebottom's Book of Pitfalls and How to Survive Them has taught Roxie Warbler how to handle all sorts of situations. If Roxie's ever lost in the desert, or buried in an avalanche, or caught in a dust storm, she knows just what to do. But Lord Thistlebottom has no advice to help Roxie deal with Helvetia's Hooligans, the meanest band of bullies in school.
Then Roxie finds herself stranded on a deserted island with not only the Hooligans but also a pair of crooks on the lam, and her survival skills may just save the day -- and turn the Hooligans into surprising allies.

Review:

Roxie is a charming little girl, and if I was stranded on a desert island I would definitely want her with me. She is the kind of character I think kids can relate to.   She is afraid of lots of things-most importantly, she is afraid of the bullies at her school who make fun of her "sugar-bowl handle" ears.  She avoids them as much as possible-until the day they find themselves stranded on an island with two bank robbers.  Suddenly, the bullies who had seemed to threatening show themselves to be real people, with their own fears.  And none of them is as well-prepared as Roxie to manage the many challenges they encounter trying to stay away from the robbers and get rescued.  

Naylor's writing is old-fashioned and fun, a throw-back to adventure stories from the past.  But I think that 21st century kids will find it to be quirky and engaging.  Roxie's resourcefulness is pretty unique, but the message is something we all need to hear now and again.  We may not be able to fight our way out of the swamp, or dig out of an avalanche, but we can do "this"-this one thing that has to be done right now, even if we are scared.  Roxie is a great example of how being brave has nothing to do with a lack of fear, but with facing your fears.

The book is pretty short, and the story is fast-paced.  There is not a ton of exposition of any of the characters, or the setting, or really much of anything, but it doesn't really need it.  I think this would make a good book for use with guided reading groups if you are doing a unit on adventure stories, or overcoming fears.  It would also be a good book to choose if you want an author study-Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written about a gajillion books, including several series, and it might be interesting to compare how her various protagonists are portrayed.

Teacher Resources:

In2Books Guide

State of Louisiana Teacher's Guide

Kids' Wings Reading Guide

The Running Dream, by Wendelin Van Draanen

Title: The Running Dream

Author: Wendelin Van Draanen

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Year: 2011

Pages: 352

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Themes: identity, friendship, survival, overcoming hardship

Age Range: Sixth Grade and up

Summary(from Goodreads): Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She's not comforted by the news that she'll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run?
As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don't know what to say, act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she weren't now keenly aware that she'd done the same thing herself to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she's missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her.
With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that's not enough for her now. She doesn't just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her.

Review: Wendelin Van Draanen, the prolific author of the Sammy Keyes and Shredderman series (among many other books), has created an emotional and inspirational tale with The Running Dream. The book opens as sixteen year old Jessica wakes up in the hospital following a bus accident and the subsequent amputation of the lower portion of one of her legs. Told in Jessica's voice, the story follows her journey of recovery and reinvention. The details, though interesting (and true to the life of a contemporary high schooler), are not what made me love this tale. It is the bigger ideas that readers will take from it: endings are almost always beginnings, true friendships can be found in the most unusual of places, an individual is not defined by his/her disabilities, and with love and hope one can achieve the seemingly insurmountable. This book speaks to students, athletes, and anyone who has ever been humbled by a challenge. Read The Running Dream.

The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien

Title:  The Things They Carried
Author:  Tim O'Brien
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Year:  1990
Pages:  273
Genre:  Historical/Realistic Fiction, Memoir
Themes:  War, Survival, Courage
Age Level:  10th Grade and Up

While I sometimes share reviews I've written of young adult novels on my adult book review blog (Book Addict Reviews), I have never posted the other way.  But when my daughter recommended I read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien after reading it in her junior level English class (my daughter, whose last recommendation to me was Twilight when she was 13), I figured I'd better read it.  And she was right-this book says things that need to be said about war and courage, and I think that those things should be said to our youth.  So, you'll find my review below, not in the usual format, but here all the same.

Summary and Review:
I was born in 1970.  So while my life overlaps briefly with the Viet Nam War, I have no real memory of it.  What I do remember is going to downtown Chicago with my granny, and later with my parents, and seeing the faces of the homeless vets that were begging on the streets.  Wild-eyed, or blank-stared, the memories of their faces color everything that I have heard, read, or seen about the war since.  And I have heard, read, and seen a lot.  Stories from the fathers of friends who fought in the war, lessons from school, movies like Full Metal Jacket and Platoon-from these sources I have cobbled together a picture of that hot, wet, chaotic, horrific place and time.

But I am not sure that I have truly felt that I had even the faintest understanding of what it might actually have been like.  Not, that is, until I read Tim O'Brien's stunning book The Things They Carried.  Neither entirely fact nor entirely fiction, O'Brien uses a series of short stories and vignettes to tell the tale of Alpha Company, a group of soldiers based, in part, on the real men that O'Brien served with during the war.  The stories meander from stateside to the jungles of Viet Nam, from childhood to middle age, detailing how each experience prepares or informs or explains the person that Tim was or is or may yet become.

I will admit to having some difficulty at first with the non-linear narrative, and with the fact that I was never sure what was true and what was made-up.  But the genius of this work is that you soon realize that it doesn't matter.  In fact, the way that the book is put together and the inability to tell fact from fiction ends up doing a better job describing what living through that experience was like than any straight forward telling could.  O'Brien and his fellow soldiers lived a reality that most of us will never experience, and can never truly comprehend, where time was skewed, day and night traded places, where extraordinary circumstances became ordinary, and where the ordinary world as most of us know it became a dream that you couldn't let yourself believe in.

My favorite section of the book (if favorite is even the right word) is the story of how O'Brien almost ran away to Canada rather than go to war.  Part of O'Brien's extreme talent is an ability to use words to paint not just a visual but an emotional picture for the reader, and I was able to feel how deeply terrified he was at the prospect of war.  I felt his ambivalence about running away, about choosing the possibility of death over the certainty of shame and embarrassment.  But the thing I found most stunning, and the line I would consider the most "controversial" of the whole piece, is this, "I passed through towns with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Viet Nam, where I was a soldier, and then home again.  I survived, but it's not a happy ending.  I was a coward. I went to war."
Given the hyper-patriotism of the US since 9-11, and our unquestioning assumption that every soldier is brave and heroic,  this simple statement stopped me dead in my tracks.  It felt almost sacrilegious.  Are we allowed to say that not going to war is more courageous than going?  What does that say about us as a society, that we are find ourselves so often in armed conflicts?  Is it bravery and strength, or is it because we don't want to be judged as wanting by the rest of the world?  What would happen if our young men and women, en masse, simply refused to go the next time we try to send them into harm's way?  Would it be courageous or cowardly?  Regardless of where any one of us comes down on that particular idea, what O'Brien's work has done is illustrate for those of us that weren't there that nothing is as simple and straightforward in war as those of us sitting at home watching it on our televisions thinks it is.

Teaching Resources:  
National Endowment for the Arts Teaching Guide 
ReadWriteThink Lesson Plans 
Web English Teacher Lesson Plans 

Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Title:  Ninth Ward
Author:  Jewell Parker Rhodes
Publisher:  Little Brown and Company
Year:  2010
Pages:  217
Genre:  Magical Realism
Themes:  family, natural disasters, strength, survival, friendship
Age Range:  4th-7th Grade

Summary: 
Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. She doesn't have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya's visions show a powerful hurricane—Katrina—fast approaching, it's up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm. (From Goodreads)


Review: 
When a humanitarian tragedy as large as Hurricane Katrina occurs, often adults struggle to find ways to discuss the horrors of the situation in a way that is at once truthful and comforting.  As the sixth anniversary of the hurricane that devoured New Orleans approaches, Jewell Parker Rhodes gives us a stunning example of how we as adults can harness the fear and sadness and turn it into something that kids can not only understand, but learn and grow from.

Lanesha is about as self-assured a character as you'll find in children's literature.  Despite her unusual birth, living situation, and gifts, Lanesha is almost completely comfortable with who she is.  Much of this can be chalked up to Mama YaYa, the midwife who raised her after her mother died in childbirth.  Lanesha's "Uptown" family wants nothing to do with her, and leaves her in the Ninth Ward with Mama YaYa.  In fact, the only thing that seems to bring sadness to her life is the desertion of her Uptown family-the wealthy family that never gave her a chance because of her mother's indiscretion with a low-class Ninth Ward boy.  Lonely as she is, it isn't until she makes friends with a girl named Ginia, a boy named TaShon, and a dog named Spot that she realizes what she's been missing-friends.  

Having lived through the lead up to and aftermath of Katrina, even from a distance, I didn't need much help imagining what the Ninth Ward was like during the hurricane.  But Parker Rhodes' descriptions bring home the chaos and fear caused by the storm, and the desperation as the water flooded in afterwards.  As an adult reader, I had a context for the references to the Superdome, but I can see how building background knowledge before reading this aloud or having your students read it would be important.  I am thinking of using it as a read aloud during a unit in natural disasters.  Sadly, what happened in New Orleans may be America's equivalent to the sinking of the Titanic (certainly, as many people died), or the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.  Unlike those events, however, this one is still unfolding, as New Orleans continues to try and rebuild.

Teacher Resources:  
Curriculum Connections-TeachingBooks.net 
Author Interview 
Education World Hurricane Watch Lesson Plans 
Jewell Parker Rhodes Webpage for Ninth Ward 

This World We Live In, by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Title:  This World We Live In
Author:  Susan Beth Pfeffer
Publisher:  Harcourt Children's Books
Year:  2010
Pages:  256
Genre:  Science Fiction/Dystopian
Age Level:  7th Grade and Up




Plot Summary:
This World We Live In continues the story of two families after a meteor hits the moon, changing its orbit and causing its new gravitational pull to start tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions all over the world.  The narrator of this book is the same as the first book in the trilogy, Life As We Knew It, Miranda.  Her family-her mother, two brothers, and cat-have survived the winter, with the help of the food the government has been delivering to people still living in her area.  Most of the people in their small town have either left or died.  The weather is getting marginally warmer, and the days are longer, if still gray with volcanic ash.  They occasionally have electricity for a few hours at a time.  During one of those days when the electricity is working, something miraculous happens-the doorbell rings.  Standing outside are Miranda's father, step-mother, new baby brother, and a small band of survivors, including a boy about Miranda's age named Alex.  The two groups try to decide how to live on the extremely limited resources they have, and start sending the young people out to scavenge in empty houses for anything usable.  Miranda soon realizes she has feelings for Alex, and when a tornado rips through what is left of their town, she is forced to make a decision that could change all of their lives.

Review:
When I read Life As We Knew It, I literally could not put it down.   The story of Miranda's family was fascinating to me.  One of the things I loved about the first book was the way that Pfeffer showed that there would be a slow breaking down of society, and I especially liked that she did not write a story about how suddenly we would all turn into raving lunatics with guns shooting each other over a can of cat food, which is what so many dystopian novels or movies portray.  I personally think that humanity is better than that.

This book was just as gripping, but much less satisfying in the end.  Once again Pfeffer's writing style, and the authenticity of Miranda's character, made me feel like I was reading a real journal by a real person.  Sometimes that format can feel contrived, but not in this case.  I was glad for the addition of new characters-while the first book showed the slow narrowing of their world to just the sunroom and the four of them, this novel highlighted our need to be part of community.  I did not read the second book in the trilogy, The Dead and the Gone, so I'm sure that some of my disappointment is due to not knowing what happened to Alex and his sister Julie before they joined up with Miranda's father and his group.  Because after getting every detail of every day of the beginning of the crisis, things seemed to jump around a lot in the second half of this book.  I couldn't understand why Alex was so insistent not to stay with the group, or why Miranda's step-mother was so attached to Julie.  But that slight dissatisfaction, of my own making, really for not reading the second book, was nothing compared to the end.  I want more!  I want to know where they go and what happens to them!  I searched the internet last night looking for anything that could tell me if this series is going to continue, and given that everything I found-including the author's blog-lists it as a trilogy I guess I'm out of luck. From a teacher's perspective this is not necessarily a bad thing-it can lead to great discussions and writing projects about what becomes of them and America in the future.  But from a reader's point of view-I'll always wonder what became of them.

Teacher Resources:

Official Readers Guide for Trilogy  

This World We Live In Book Trailer 

Interview with Susan Beth Pfeffer 

Life As We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer

Title:  Life As We Knew It
Author:  Susan Beth Pfeffer
Publisher:  Harcourt Children's Books
Year:  2006
Genre:  Science Fiction/Dystopia
Age Level:  6th-12th Grade




Plot Summary:
At the end of her sophomore year in high school, it seemed as though all Miranda's teachers could talk about was the impending collision of a meteor with the moon.  But that event barely registered with Miranda-like most 16 year olds she was more concerned with boys, her friends, and getting her driver's license.  But when the collision occurs, much more powerful than anyone predicted, it causes the moon to go off it's axis.  This in turn causes tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and drastic weather changes.  As the things that Miranda has always taken for granted start to disappear (like electricity, fresh food, and water), she is at turns angry, petulant, and finally resigned to the fact that life as she knew it is over.  But she discovers that she is stronger than she imagined as she discovers what this new life might be about.

Review: 
My book club decided to read this book, plus In a Perfect World by Laura Kasischke, as our August book clib books.  So while most book clubs were probably reading light, beachy reads, we were reading about the end of civilization as we know it-TWICE!  As my best friend said, it sort of made you want to start hording canned food and bottled water by the time you were done.  But both books were so well done that I can't really complain too much about the subject matter.

As the mother of a 16 year old myself I can tell you that Miranda's voice on this book rings completely true.  At times completely self-absorbed, and at others seeming too mature for her age, Miranda deals with the crisis in the context of the things she knows best-her friends, her school, her family.  Like In a Perfect World, this story is really a multi-layered structure.  There is the science fiction story of the crisis and it's aftermath, there is the family drama of Miranda's relationship with her mother and father, who is remarried and not living with them at the time of the meteor collision, and there is a coming-of-age story complete with that make or break moment where Miranda's ability to handle what this new life throws at her leaves her a more mature, wiser person.  Pfeffer handles all of these matters authentically and with style.

One thing that I appreciated about this novel, and the reason that I think you could use it as young as 6th grade, is that rather than show the world descending into violence and madness after the collision, it shows what I consider to be a much more realistic view of the slow disintegration of our societal institutions and culture.  People do not immediately get guns and start shooting each other over a can of tuna-though they do start to gather resources and hide them away.  People are wary of each other, but not hostile for the most part, and that feels more right to me.  Outside of urban areas where violence seems to sprout up for much less reason than food shortages, in the more rural parts of the country where the story is set, I like to believe that in the event of a crisis of this magnitude people would be more likely to try and work together and help each other than lock themselves away and shoot on sight.  Maybe that's just me being overly-optimistic, but that's what I want to believe, and maybe believing will make it true!

Teaching Resources:

Susan Beth Pfeffer Resources 

Scholastic Study Guide

Discussion Guide