the dead and the gone | 
| Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Category: Book
List Price: $17.00
Buy New: $9.55
You Save: $7.45 (44%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 69403
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.2
ISBN: 0152063110
EAN: 9780152063115
ASIN: 0152063110
Publication Date: June 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: First American edition, first printing hardback. Book and dj in fine condition, no markings.
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Product Description
Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event--an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin of horrific climate changes. Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales. 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 The sci-fi is more beleive able the the religious overtones. July 6, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The sci-fi aspects of this book are interesting and the ramifications raise many valid avenues for discussion. What is not believeable are the religous aspects of the teen involved. Has the author met an American teenager recently? All of the teens I know are brighter, tougher, and much more pragmatic than the characters presented in this book. Okay, they still love their drama and don't always make great decisions, but they aren't dropping to their knees to pray over every problem they face. Anyone giving this book a 5 star rating is either working for the publisher or is a member of the authors family. NO TEEN would ever rate this book above 2 stars!
 Enchanting YA Review: The Dead and The Gone July 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
THE DEAD AND THE GONE
SUSAN BETH PFEFFER
Rating: 5 Enchantments
Seventeen-year-old Alex Morales worries whether or not he'd be senior class president or if he'll get a scholarship to Georgetown. But all these concerns fade on the fateful day a meteor hits the moon. Life as he knows it will never be the same.
Alex is left to take care of his two younger sisters while trying to survive. New York City is no longer the bustling city he remembers. Corpses and rats line the streets. The only thing that still seems normal is St. Vincent de Paul, his Catholic school, where the kindness of the priests helps him survive day by day. If the severe climate changes don't kill him, then staying in NYC will. Will the faith of his sister Bri be enough for them or will Alex have to prove to himself that he has the strength to help not only himself but his sisters to survive as well?
I loved this story. I picked up this book and couldn't put it down. Ms. Pfeffer does an excellent job describing the horrors Alex and his sisters face once the meteor hits. Not knowing the fate of either of his parents, Alex calls the hotline and makes an appointment to check bodies at the Yankee Stadium. This scene haunted me.
I loved the depiction of the priests and nuns and how they looked out for the students under their care; also how Alex learns how to look beyond his own concerns and help not just himself but his family. Alex's struggles and fears were very realistic. Who knows what others would do in a similar situation?
Alex's strength and courage stayed with me long after I finished this tale.
I'd highly recommend this book. Also I recommend the first book, Life As We Knew It.
Kim
Enchanting Reviews
Not on par with "Life as we knew it" July 2, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Life as we knew it" was so thoughtful and interesting I wanted to explore more with the author on this same theme. This particular book had a lot of holes that made it hard to engage in the story and really wasn't about the same thing. It's almost like the author was asked to write a sequel and complied but her heart was really in telling another story, perhaps one about faith.
That said, I did feel compelled to read it to the end though I was mad at myself for buying it in hardback.
 a chilling portrayal of survival July 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read Susan Beth Pfeffer's "The Year Without Michael" quite some time ago, and I remember it being a haunting, if vaguely disturbing story that has no real conclusion. Having read "Life as We Knew It" and its sequel, "The Dead and Gone," I have to say that that seems to be her forte: writing about characters in a slice of time that are dealing with unimaginable events. There's no happy ending to these stories, it's just a brief moment in their lives that show how they cope. In other words, it's a lot like real life.
"The Dead and the Gone" follows 17-year-old Alex in the aftermath of a crazy astronomical event. The moon has been hit by an asteroid that knocks it out of orbit, affecting the tides, the atmosphere, and pretty much the entire environmental balance of the Earth. Alex takes on the responsibility of caring for his two younger teenage sisters while coping with the uncertainty of his parents' fates, food supplies, and the future.
While this could probably be a standalone book, it's more of a compliment to the previous novel set in this future, "Life as We Knew It." Pfeffer assumes you've read the previous book and doesn't set up the moon/asteroid event like she does in the first book. This gives "The Dead and the Gone" a faster-paced feeling, as it starts off with a bang (literally!) and the dramatic events keep unfolding.
The characters in this book are vastly different than the first, which some reviewers don't seem to like. But to me it makes sense - the author is exploring how a worldwide event is affecting people from all walks of life. The "Life as We Knew It" characters aren't especially religious, but Pfeffer chose to sketch a Puerto Rican family that takes faith very seriously in "The Dead and the Gone." Obviously, the world is made up of people from all sorts of backgrounds - so why shouldn't the author take on different types of characters? It might have been interesting if she had chosen to write about characters in another country, instead of basing her two books in the United States. But my overall point is, I think Pfeffer made a great decision in exploring how the same event would affect people with a different worldview.
If you're looking for a happy ending, these are not the books you want to read. They're more character studies in a short period of time, but there is no real conclusion. There's hope at the end, but the story's not really "finished" - kind of like real life.
Should NOT have paid money for the hardback! June 30, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I LOVED Life As We Knew It! I found the characters and the day-to-day struggles and solutions compelling, the details of the physical changes of the earth fascinating, and I really enjoyed the overall positive energy of the story. So I was so excited to see this companion novel come out, but this is NOT the same kind of book at all. The whole moon-event and the subsequent earth reactions are barely mentioned and just glossed over. The tone is SO negative and, frankly, boring. The characters don't read like real people at all, and the content was just so very...Catholic! Too much! I found it very annoying and rather unbelievable. Too bad. It could have been so much better.
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