Title: Life As We Knew It
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Source: Purchased
Parental Warning: death, criminal activity

“This moon thing is supposed to happen around 9:30 Wednesday night, and Mom was interested enough that we watched the news tonight. They said asteroids hit the moon pretty often, which is how the moon gets its craters, but this one is going to be the biggest asteroid ever to hit it and on a clear night you should be able to see the impact when it happens, maybe even with the naked eye but certainly with binoculars. They made it sound pretty dramatic, but I still don’t think it’s worth three homework assignments.”

Summary:
Miranda lives he life of a typical teenager — navigating the rungs of the high school social status ladder, dancing the back and forth of parental tug of war, and general age appropriate moodiness.  But wait, add the end of the world as she knows it to the mix and this young girl’s life takes a turn most unexpected.

In the span of what was to be one evening’s exciting celestial events Miranda’s world is, quite literally, turned around.  When a meteor knocks the moon out of its normal orbit the giant satellite is now much closer to Earth than its previously location.  Not surprisingly the change in gravitational and orbital elements wreaks havoc on the Earth — changes in weather being the most significant.

Initially hopeful Miranda, her mother, and her brother Johnny continue business as usual expecting that in short order things will calm into a different but manageable norm.  It takes little time, however for them to discover that this is not the case.  Their family growing and shrinking in numbers, teetering on the brink of starvation and freezing to death, and fighting off looting and criminal activity all emphasize the grand and life altering changes they must hopefully endure until environmental stability is once again undertaken.

Opinion:
Pfeffer writes an exceptional story in which an absurdly apocalyptic event alters the course of the human race.  As told through the eyes of a young teenager, her friends and family the reader is shown how Mother Nature can so profoundly affect even the simplest actions in our lives.  Their hardship for food, warmth and safety teaches us strong lessons on perseverance and determination.

Living solely on their sheer will to survive the reader can feel the natural elements and desperation surrounding Miranda and her family as they continue to struggle do their best to endure.  Always putting their best feet forward it is a rare, but eye opening, moment when one falters. Though not as common as one would think moments of desperation do occur most specifically surrounding the health of family members and the quest for knowledge in a world filled primarily with radio silence.

Those who have yet to read should be advised that at times the story got a bit repetitive and lengthy with similar hurdles the family was to overcome or endure.  Having said that, given the plot it can be imagined that days, weeks and months went on where the same happened.  Scavenging and hoarding food, searching for anything to manage the elements (warmth or chill), and protecting the home front and family to the best of all ability.

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The Book Blogger Convention has never felt more close than it does today!  I want to extend a big welcome to those of you who may be visiting my small corner of the blogosphere as a result of the wonderful piece Shelf Awareness published.  I’m thankful to Shannon Mckenna- Schmidt for taking the time to speak with Trish, myself and a variety of others about our event it certainly makes us proud and excited.  Elated really!

In an attempt to leech off of their graciousness I’m going to put my publicity hat on today and pimp out the Book Blogger Convention.  This may turn into more of a list of links than anything else, but rest assured full details can be found on the Book Blogger Convention website.

I’ll start by saying that anyone and everyone is welcome to join us we’d love to have you!  Blogger, author, publisher, publicity representative, anyone in the industry, heck anyone at all, can attend.  We’ve got an amazing agenda scheduled with fabulous speakers and presenters.  It will be an educational and fun day.

Registration for the whole shabang is $115 and that gets you access to the Thursday reception and Friday convention.  The deadline for registration is May 20th so please do head on over to the BBC registration form and fill it out if you’re interested in attending.

If, you are unable to join us for the whole day Friday but still want to participate at some level we encourage you to register for attendance at just the Thursday evening reception.  For $20 you get to mix and mingle with a great variety of people. To register to attend this event only please hop on over to the Reception Attendance form.

We’re excited to be hosting the reception, having a charity raffle, and are giving away some awesome swag.  If you’re interested in contributing to any (or all) of those opportunities please feel free to read more about it in our BBC blog post or contact us at bookbloggercon@gmail.com.

These are all the highlights, but by no means is it all of the information related to the Book Blogger Convention, I encourage you to visit our blog to learn more.

Once again a giant thank you for visiting me and tremendous gratitude to Shelf Awareness for providing us wonderful press coverage.  We’re most appreciative!

We hope to see you in May!

Welcome to a new month in the Harry Potter Reading Challenge!

We’re one more closer to successful completion. Congratulations!

Below you’ll find this month’s Mr. Linky. When you post a review, discussion, or anything at all having to do with the HPRC make sure you submit it so all the challengers can visit and partake of your awesomeness.

Title: Tagged
Author: Mara Purnhagen
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: eGalley provided by publisher via NetGalley
Parental Warning: vandalism, illegal activity

“I couldn’t sleep.  I wondered what Eli saw in Reva.  Was it her cool confidence?  She seemed so much older to me, like she was a twenty-five-year-old woman trapped in a sixteen-year-old’s body.  Did Eli like her maturity?  They had been together for over a year.  Was it possible they would break up soon or would they stay together until graduation?  It shouldn’t have mattered to me, but it did.”

Summary (from publisher):
Can Kate Morgan stand up for herself — without being labeled a snitch?

Kate is just as confused as her best friend, Lan, when she arrives at Cleary High to find the building’s been “tagged” with a life-size graffiti mural.  Could the culprit be one of their friends or classmates?  And is the kind-of-amazing creation really vandalism, or a work of art?  She’s tempted to stay out of it — mostly because, as the police chief’s daughter, she’s worried about being labeled a snitch.  But when the same mysterious graffiti starts appearing throughout the state, putting more pressure on the authorities to catch the vandal, her investigative instincts kick in.

Now Eli, Kate’s favorite coworker at the local coffee shot, is MIA.  With Lan preoccupied with her own boy troubles, Kate needs to figure out some things on her own.  Like why she can’t stop thinking about Eli.  And what she will do when all the clues about the graffiti point to someone she’s close to….

Opinion:
I find Purnhagen quite reminiscent of Meg Cabot — Tagged is a well written book with a great plot and endearing, rootable characters.  The romantic entanglements and situations in this story aren’t new or unique to me but I’m the first to admit that this is likely related to my age.  I’m certain that middle school and many teen readers may not see how some of the twists and turns will play out quite as readily as I was able to.  Regardless, of this issue I still thoroughly enjoyed the story, it was a quick fun read that is definitely worthy of attention.

One of the highlights of the story was Purnhagen’s choice to infuse Tagged with the debate of what defines art versus vandalism.  This question arises as a result of a series of graffiti gorillas appearing on the walls of various locations around town (including Kate’s high school).  Then when they begin to appear in other, more distant, locations the phenomena sparks interest in the mystery.   Who is the artist?  Who is the vandal?

To me, this conversation provides the story it’s most thought provoking asset. It gives an outlet for both Kate and her friend Eli reflect on their lives.  For Kate, the events surrounding the arrival and movement of the gorillas encourage her to look at the true meaning of friendship and love.  She experiences the typical highs and lows of a high schooler — navigating the social classes, falling in love for the first time, dealing with jealousy and spitefulness, and most of all understanding the legalities of the choices one makes.

An touching and humorous read with strongly built characters Tagged is wholesome entertainment with a good set of values behind it.

Title: Epitaph Road
Author: David Patneaude [website]
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Publisher: Egmont USA
Source: Provided by Publisher
Parental Warning: political intrigue, racism, physical violence

“I stood up and zombie-walked to the window.  Up and down the street, lamplight glowed from the opposing rows of old two- and three-story homes.  Even in this supposedly desirable neighborhood, through, some houses had stood vacant and deteriorating for decades or been torn down completely.  Thirty years ago the Bear had made quick work of their male occupants and sent their female tenants packing.  They’d downsized to apartments or moved in with relatives or found rooms support and companionship in big houses like ours.”

Summary (from publisher):
In 2067, an airborne virus wiped out 97 percent of the male population.  Thirty years later, women rule the world and have ushered in a new golden age on EArth.  Poverty, crime, war, and hunger have all disappeared.  Growing up in this utopia, fourteen-year-old Kellen Dent feels isolated as one of the few males alive.

When a rumored outbreak of the virus threatens Kellen’s outcast father, he knows that he must warn him of the coming danger.  During his desperate race to find his dad, Kellen uncovers a secret so frightening that his life and the future of the world will never be the same.

Opinion:
What if women ruled the world?  Would it be a better place or would war, corruption and politics just be different?

David Patneaude answers this question in a subtle and very straightforward way.  Viewing the world through they eyes of one of the few male inhabitants left after an apocalyptic virus kills most others.  The fact that this male is a teenager to boot only enhances the progression of the revelations.

The fact that Kellen was assumed to be an impressionable boy made him easily manipulated by the system, or so government officials thought.  He was (much to their chagrin) far more shrewd, insightful and cunning than anticipated.  These traits allowed him the ability to research and find information that others may not have been as capable of digging out.  Add to this the fact that Patneaude wrote a supporting cast of characters that fed into his many other abilities (two teenage girls who were parters in crime, a mother linked to the government’s higher ups, and an aunt who had history and rebellion on her side) enhanced the plot’s mysterious elements.

Patneaude writes about interesting ethical issues such as gender, medical ethics, and politics.  Issues teens don’t likely discuss a great deal in their every day lives.  In this way I think Epitaph Road has the potential to encourage some interesting conversation and debate.  I’d be interested to read it as part of a book club to be able to thoroughly dissect some of the points he’s made related to these issues.

The one weakness Epitaph Road had in my eyes was that the story built a bit too slowly.  We didn’t get to the best part of the book until much later than I wanted.  I understood why this was done — providing historical perspective, developing characters and relationships, and creating conflict; but it languished just a bit too long in the set up.  While, not to my particular liking, it didn’t damage my ability to like the book as a whole.  The second half of the story, when Kellen is more action oriented than a passive observer, was very enjoyable.

Being a fan of series fiction I could easily see this book turned into multiple follow-ups.  Now that readers know the truth behind events (which I won’t spoil here) it would be interesting to delve into the stories of survivors and those they have lost pre and post Elisha’s Bear.

Good for girls and boys, interesting for young and old, Epitaph Road is certainly worthy or any and all dystopian fan’s attention as well.  If you have the opportunity take a look, it’s worth your time.