Juvenile Fiction

I'm not normally into it.

But I picked up the dead and the gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer at the library this week without taking a close look at it; turns out, it's aimed at the teen set. The protagonist is a seventeen year old boy, which was something of a give away. Anyway, I went ahead and read it as the subject matter was quite interesting (human survival after apocalyptic event) and it was quite good.

Amazon says:

When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle. With haunting themes of family, faith, personal change, and courage, this powerful new novel explores how a young man takes on unimaginable responsibilities.

That's the gist of it and it held my attention very well, even given the targeted audience. It does have some very strong Catholic/faith elements, which might be attractive to young people of faith, though I should add that there is no direct comment on whether a higher power does or does not exist in the book.

If you have a thirteen/fourteen year old and up (there are quite gruesome subjects in it, so I would not advise for a 10 or 11 year old early reader) who is looking for a good read, suggest they try this one out.