Gone

Overall : 7.5/10

Summary: "The world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper." -T.S. Eliot. When the end of the world begins, the skies don't go black. There's no screaming. The day starts out as it normally would with the kids going to school and the adults going to work. But by the end of the day, the city of Perdido Beach is in chaos.

It's midmorning when everyone over the age of 15 disappears. No noise or flashes of light. They're just there one minute and then gone the next. And the kids are left to their own devices. They face starvation, radiation and even death by other kids.

Sam never considered himself a hero, but with no one else he finds himself stepping up to the plate. His efforts save the hardware store and daycare center. Everyone begins to turn to him for help. Except Sam doesn't want to help. But will he really be able to turn his back when darker forces threaten the all-kids population?

Opinion: Not bad, but not the best novel I've read recently. The plot is intruiging and faces real issues and those that aren't real are incorporated in an interesting manner. There are a few things that stretch my suspensions of disbelief, however, and the different perspectives of all the characters can be a little confusing. The characters have some plot development, but it's hard to relate to them. Sam and Astrids relation, however, is fun. It's nice that Sam isn't perfect and open to making mistakes, but his heroism seems to come from nowhere. Not a bad book all things considered.

Title: I like it. Not really catchy, but not totally obvious, either.

Cover: Could be better. It was interesting enough to catch my attention, but not a real eye-popper.

Recommendation: I'd say anyone 12-15 would probably like this. I felt a bit old for it. Things that 'Astrid the Genius' said made sense to me and I thought some of the 14 year olds acted a little juvenile, but they would, if they were 14. It just made it more difficult for someone older to relate to the book than say, a 14 year old might. An interesting action-adventure-fantasy, none the less.

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This came today instead of Sunday because I finished teh book late sunday night, then forgot to post it on Monday and Tuesday. Oops. And there's nothing real to report for this week writing wise, anyway. :)

-MJ