Search This Blog
April Reviews Link-Up
May Reviews Link-Up
June Reviews Link-Up
July Reviews Link-Up
August Reviews Link-Up
September Reviews Link-Up
October Reviews Link-Up
November Reviews Link-Up
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (2)
- North Carolina (2)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma (1)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont (1)
- Virginia (1)
- Washington (1)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (7)
- France (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Italy (1)
- Scotland (2)
- The Netherlands (1)
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Saturday, December 21, 2019
MG End-of-the-World-Maybe Novel Is a Fun, Upbeat Read
7:28 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Elle Dross has been practicing for the Apocalypse for years thanks to her prepper grandfather. She doesn't really believe in its inevitably, though, until she learns that a discredited Harvard professor is predicting that an asteroid will hit Earth in April. It's possible the guy isn't totally legit, but what if he's right? What if Grandpa Joe is right? As scary as the end of the world could be, Elle knows her family would survive just fine. So would her BFF Mack. He might be blind, but he's run enough drills with her grandpa to know what to do. Bonus: Elle won't lose him to the blind school he plans to transfer to next year. As for the rest of their middle school, their classmates, and all their drama? The asteroid can blow it all to smithereens for all Elle cares.
Except. Maybe it's her duty, as one of the few who believe in the prediction, to warn the people around her. Before she knows it, she's running a secret doomsday club and printing an underground newsletter. Elle and her friends are prepared for anything—or are they? As life changes around them, they all have to figure out how to deal with impending life shake-ups. And some of those can be even more frightening than an asteroid hurtling towards Earth ...
Despite its rather dark premise, The World Ends in April by Stacy McAnulty is an upbeat, funny story that's mostly about friendship. The characters are likable and relatable; it's easy to care about their problems and their fates. Middle schoolers will relate to the theme of change, both in its inevitability and in its sometimes frightening nature. Even though I'm not the book's target audience, I still really enjoyed this sweet, fun novel. I especially appreciated the endnotes McAnulty includes, which give real, practical advice on emergency preparation as well as warning kids about how to find reliable information sources.
(Readalikes: Um, nothing is coming to mind. You?)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for scary situations/ideas
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
2 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Reading
Listening
Followin' with Bloglovin'
-
Home is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose12 minutes ago
-
Palamedes PR Blog Tour2 hours ago
-
The Lady of Larkspur Vale4 hours ago
-
Need a laugh?5 hours ago
-
-
Long Time Dead by T M Payne6 hours ago
-
First Lines Fridays: April 26, 20249 hours ago
-
Daily Prompt 25 April Thursday11 hours ago
-
-
A Heart Full of Headstones - Ian Rankin15 hours ago
-
-
-
-
City Girls23 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
Final Cut by Marjorie McCown2 days ago
-
-
-
-
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth2 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sunday Post6 days ago
-
Reading as a retreat from reality1 week ago
-
Reading Recap March 20242 weeks ago
-
-
March Monthly Wrap-up3 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?6 months ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra10 months ago
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ▼ 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ► 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)
My mind went directly to Willy Wonka, when I heard his name was Grandpa Joe, but I digress. Preppers are an interesting breed. I don't think I have even met one before. That's an interesting springboard for a story about friendship.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an odd mixture of something that could be really depressing with a fun attitude. Perfect for middle schoolers.
ReplyDelete