The book Life as We Knew It, by Susan Pfeffer copyright 2006, is a book that can make you cry, because it illustrates the difficult times that some people go through. It gives you an idea on what the victims of Hurricane Katrina had to go through. I thought the book was depressing but also suspenseful.

A girl named Miranda writes Life as We Knew It in diary form. She mainly writes about what’s going on in her life and her family. She has two brothers. Matt is the oldest and Jon is the youngest and a mom and dad. Her parents are divorced, and her dad is married to a woman named Lisa. One night on the news they say a meteoroid was going to hit the moon. At first everyone thought it was the coolest thing that could ever happen, but when the meteoroid hit the moon, it brought the moon closer to the earth. The people didn’t consider how the closeness of the moon would affect things such as water currents, which eventually lead to flooding. Heavy waves made floods on the coast. There were changes in the weather and more people started to die each day. People lost electricity and couldn’t call their loved ones to she if they were all right. Miranda and her family had to survive on their own. The weather gets so bad that schools were still open but not many kids attended. Things got worse everyday. They had to start doing everything the old fashioned way. Stores didn’t have any food because everyone loaded up because they knew the worst had yet to come. Miranda, her mom, and her brother Matt even cut down on how much they ate so their brother Jon could live longer and be healthy. Eventually things got better for Miranda and her family. Phones started to work, power turned back on, and they got more supply of food. Things didn’t get fully better but slowly things improved.

I think Life as We Knew It is outstanding book for all age groups, because it’s easy to understand and it teaches a lesson on life is for other people. The book shows no matter where you live there can always be a natural disaster, but at least you’re not struggling for food. Things seem bad at first, but it will get better with time. I liked the book, but I also thought it was depressing at many points. Especially the struggle for food, and not knowing if your dad is alive. There was one part in the story where one of Miranda’s neighbors had come for medicine because his wife was sick. To me it was sad that people couldn’t find the medicine to get better. Even though the book was depressing, it helped me appreciate everything I have and things could be worse. I eat three meals a day, and I have electricity. What I really find depressing is all the chaos that the meteoroid causes. Another thing that made me sad is that more people died each day. Miranda’s friend died and she barely heard from her friends since school ended in the summer. I think this book was written to give an idea of what life would be like when the world is coming to an end. In the lat paragraph Miranda writes, “But today, when I am seventeen and warm and well fed, keeping this journal for myself so I can always remember ife as we knew it, life as we know it, for a time when I am not longer in the sunroom.” I like that paragraph because even though she had gone thought so much, she still had faith.

Overall I liked the book Life as We Knew It because it taught me to cherish everything I have. It’s a great story of survival and fighting to make it through possibly the earth coming to an end. I would recommend this book to anyone. They may cry, but it’s worth it.