Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

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 haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. 
     Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

This book was depressing, creepy, sad, and...amazing.  Tragedy strikes the whole world, and there's nothing any one can do but try to survive.

Every time I would put this book down, for a second I would feel sad.  It was such a good book that I would feel like all of this had really happened.  Then I would remember that it hadn't.  Which would in turn make me happy.  Seriously, this book was one that would make you both depressed and super duper happy.

Miranda was a really good character, and it was nice to watch her and her family grow as characters.  In the beginning, Miranda was kind of a brat, taking everything for granted and fighting with her mom.  In the end, she still fought with her mom, but she was a stronger and smarter character.

The saddest part, and the happiest, was in the end.  Miranda leaves, knowing (knowing!) she was going to die, but she didn't want to in front of her mom, because she was afraid her mother would die to.  But then by some miraculous stroke of luck, there is a bit of an answer to their problems, and they still can live.  Not thrive, but survive.

I give this book a 5/5 and would recommend it to lovers of a survivor story, distopian, and people who enjoy a good end of the world story.

Market: YA
Sensuality: Mild
Language: Mild/Moderate
Violence: Mild