Module 8: The Dead and the Gone

Summary

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer is the second book of The Last Survivors series, but can be read as a stand-alone book as the events in this book happen congruently with the events of the first book. In The Dead and the Gone, an asteroid hits the moon which causes the moon to shift its orbit dangerously close to the earth which triggers a variety of continuous natural disasters from floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, continuous ash in the air and food shortages. 

The book follows the ordeals of the children of the Morales family in New York where the oldest son Alex must take care of his two younger sisters after his parents never return home and are presumed dead. Throughout the slow decay and destruction of society, normal everyday life becomes harder as normal institutions such as their private Catholic schools stay open after the initial disasters, but eventually close down as well. Alex is forced with tough decisions and forced to do things like steal from dead bodies in the street to keep his sisters alive by bartering with those things that he finds. Slowly, the population of New York either dies off or finds a way to leave and at the end of the book, they also find a way to leave. 

Reference

 Pfeffer, S. B. (2008). The dead & the gone. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.

Impressions

Being a fan of apocalyptic survival stories, I really enjoyed The Dead and the Gone. I found it very interesting that the disasters in this book didn't cause an immediate destruction of society, but the book builds a picture of a society that falls apart slowly, yet fast enough to cause a sense of distress and worry. In the beginning, I found it odd that school would continue to operate, but then I felt that people would try to continue in the face of impending doom to the best of their abilities. Another thing I enjoyed about the book was that it brought into play the fact that those with money, resources and connections were able to fair better in this new and terrible world, while those who were poor still struggled as in the world before the disasters. As the book continues, the worth of money slowly decreased as a bartering system began to take it's place. Overall, I enjoyed this book and it really made me feel like I should prepare with some emergency supplies. 

Professional Review

Spisak, A. (2008). The Dead and the Gone (review). Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 61(11), 489. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved December 8, 2016, from Project MUSE database.

Library Uses

This book could be used for a prepper program at the library. The program can focus on emergency supplies for natural disasters and the library could share resources in the community as well as survival techniques.