12-16 and birthday books

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is the second book in a series about what would happen to the world as we know it if the moon were knocked just a little closer. This installment is set in New York City, where Alex Morales struggles to keep himself and his sisters alive through the first cruel winter. His struggles and experiences are quite different from Miranda's were in the first book. His mother is at work and his father is out of the country when the asteroid strikes the moon, meaning that he is the man of the house. He is able to rely on the Catholic church for awhile, but eventually even that chain of command breaks down and he is launched into a desperate struggle to get out of the dying city. I can't wait to see what the third book brings!

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

Written in classic Conroy style, this story touched on a new topic: homosexuality and the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's. I saw echoes of Beach Music and The Prince of Tides in the characters and events. In particular the beautiful and damaged heroines with their sibilant names seem as though they could walk in and out of each other's stories: Shyla, Starla, Sheba, and Savannah. Conroy's description of the hurricane which rips through Charleston captivated me and reminded me of the scene from Beach Music in which Shyla and Jack dance in the beach house as the waves tear it apart during a similar storm. It's fascinating to see so many symbols and devices used in so many different ways.

When the Wind Blows by James Patterson

I haven't quite finished this one, but I am enjoying it immensely. It's written in standard Patterson style: short chapters, lots of action and dialog, fast moving story, nice blend of science fact and character-driven morality. Also, I am confused by what I once read, that the Max in this book is not the same Max in the Maximum Ride books. I think that this cannot possibly be true, as she is nearly the same character! The other bird-kids are different, but really in name only. (And I think I prefer their names in this to their names in the YA books.)

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

As usual, this came out right before my birthday and Mom and Daddy gave it to me as a gift. I enjoyed it, although I am getting a little frustrated that the characters (specifically Morelli and Ranger) are completely static at this point. I would like to see them grow and change, as real people do in real life.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

This is definitively the most amazing book I've read yet this year. It tops Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, although in truth the two are related. In One Second After, an EMP is detonated over the United States, destroying all electronic devices in an instant. The novel, which is set in Black Mountain, North Carolina (a place with which I am reasonably familiar), then describes the efforts of the people there to survive as their world is thrown into chaos. The threat of an EMP is very real in our world today, where people rely increasingly on electronics to complete simple tasks and the generation which knew how to complete those tasks without electronics is dying out. This should be required reading for every American. It's simply terrifying, beautifully written, and compelling.