Happy June!!

If it's June, that must mean the school year is just about over. Because of all our snow this winter, we have to make up 6 days!! I don't ever remember that many. So, we still have 3 weeks to go. Just as well as I have so much more to do before the end of the year.

Today's podcast is for the book The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I waited so long to get this. I heard about it a year ago. I had hoped to get an ARC at midwinter but my eye surgery kept me from getting there. So I had to wait until it was actually published!! And it was worth it. I loved Life as We Knew It. (If you buy my new book, you'll have proof of that!) In one of the evaluations from a workshop I did, a participant said that I seem to concentrate on dark books. Hmmm. I guess s/he was right. I'm trying to be sure I have some "up" books used as examples from now on. But, really, I do like doom and gloom. I am not a fan of blood and gore but give me a good end of the world or dystopian book anyday.

But back to the Dead and the Gone. I thought it would be hard to live up to the first book. But it did. I really enjoyed it (except the part about Brianna). And I really want to see what happens to Alex. I surely hope there is another book in the works!! Please!!!

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

Alex is a hard working kid living in New York. He dreams of going to college and having a successful life. He comes from a good working class family and has a scholarship to a prestigious prep school. He even has a shot at becoming class president his senior year. Things are really working out for him. But that is all about to change. The night the asteroid hits the moon knocking it out of orbit changes life for everyone. Now Alex's parents are missing, his older brother is deployed and it is up to Alex to keep his younger sisters safe. And fed. And it is getting harder and harder to find food. If you have read Pfeffer's book Life As We Knew It and wondered what was happening in the big cities, take a look at Alex's life as he struggles with the aftermath of the moon shift.

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/pfeffer_dead.mp3