In
the riveting page-turner, Ashfall, by Mike Mullin, a super volcano in
Yellowstone National Park erupts and, in the aftermath, the world as
we know it is completely changed. The reader is immediately thrown
into the life of the protagonist, Alex, an average fifteen-year-old
boy trying to reach his family, one hundred miles away, and survive
in the face of a natural disaster of cataclysmic proportions. The
landscape, climate, and humanity itself have all changed and Alex, an
extremely sympathetic character, must learn how to survive in a world
that is covered in ash, then by snow, no sunlight, sparse food
supplies, and plagued with violence and anarchy. Graphic and sometimes gruesome details are disturbing yet necessary in the depiction of this new dystopian reality. The most
frightening aspect of this compelling and thoroughly researched novel
is the fact that the occurance of such an event is
completely plausible.
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings." This quote, taken from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, is the inspiration for the title of John Green's novel, The Fault in Our Stars. Intellectually and emotionally challenging, this is the sort of book that the reader would want to read repeatedly. Humor, wisdom, and love help to keep the heavy plot line not only bearable, but also very interesting. Hazel, Augustus, Isaac, and so many others are far more than just sympathetic characters; they become good friends and family members that the reader will love, worry about, laugh and cry with and hold gently in their hearts long after the last page is turned.
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings." This quote, taken from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, is the inspiration for the title of John Green's novel, The Fault in Our Stars. Intellectually and emotionally challenging, this is the sort of book that the reader would want to read repeatedly. Humor, wisdom, and love help to keep the heavy plot line not only bearable, but also very interesting. Hazel, Augustus, Isaac, and so many others are far more than just sympathetic characters; they become good friends and family members that the reader will love, worry about, laugh and cry with and hold gently in their hearts long after the last page is turned.
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