Category: Riot Grrrl!

Miranda and her family from Life As We Knew It have made it through the brutal winter. Limited government food supplies have started coming to her small Pennsylvania town, enough to keep her, her mother and two brothers alive as they try to figure out what to do next. Even though any food is long gone, Miranda and her brothers have taken to looting abandoned houses for items like toilet paper and toothpaste, which now seem like huge luxuries almost a year after the asteroid that hit the moon changed everything. And now things are changing once again. Suddenly, there are more mouths to feed when older brother Matt shows up with his new “wife,” Syl. And Miranda’s dad finally comes back with his wife Lisa, their new baby and several traveling companions, including Alex Morales and his sister Julie from The Dead and the Gone. Tensions rise around food distribution and family affections. While Miranda is thrilled to see a cute boy her age who isn’t related to her, she’s also worried about how much the newcomers will eat, and resents the fact that her father seems to care about Alex and Julie more than his own children. In addition, Alex has a secret that could either save or destroy this fragile new community of survivors. Who will live, who will die, and who will fall in unexpected love in This World We Live In?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: what I love about these books is how Pfeffer paints the Armageddon not with a broad 2012 brush, but instead takes a subtle, infinitely scarier approach, where the simple things Miranda takes for granted, like privacy, the taste of toothpaste and the regularity of the seasons gradually disappear. Even something as benign as a quick bike ride to town could end in tragedy if she fell and broke a bone, as there are no more working hospitals, or doctors to staff them. All the rules have changed, and the consequences for thoughtless behavior could very well be fatal. Can love even exist under these conditions? Is it worth caring for someone who could be taken from you at any moment?  Pfeffer raises these questions and many more in this thoughtful, moving conclusion to her end of the world trilogy. While you can read World on its own, you’ll want to take in all three titles for the full-on post apocalyptic experience.

When she was a little girl, Grace was dragged off the tire swing in her Minnesota backyard one winter by a starving wolf pack who had every intention of having her for dinner. But one yellow-eyed male stopped the feeding frenzy and saved Grace’s life. So instead of being afraid of the wolves, she becomes their defender, especially the amber-eyed one she calls her own. Flash forward: Grace is a junior in high school when one of her classmates is attacked and killed by the pack. Armed, angry townsmen head into the woods to get rid of the wolves once and for all, and Grace throws her self into their line of fire in an attempt to save her wolf. Imagine her surprise when a bullet grazes the animal and he turns into a stunning young man named Sam right before her eyes. She acts quickly, saving his life as he saved hers all those years ago, and soon a passionate romance blossoms between them. Sam reveals to Grace that the pack are actually werewolves, who remain human for the most part as long as the weather is warm, but are forced to succumb to their wolf state when the temperature drops. To make matters worse, as the seasons turn, the pack remain as wolves for longer and longer periods of time until they stop becoming human altogether. Sam is eighteen years old, and knows that this is his last year as a human. Once he turns again, he will stay a wolf for the rest of his life. The shock of being shot caused Sam to revert to his human state, but the weather is growing frostier by the day, and despite all her efforts to keep Sam warm, Grace is terrified that she will lose her first love to his wolfish nature forever. Meanwhile, there are two renegade wolves on the loose who are determined to return Sam to the pack even if they have to kill Grace to do it. Can Sam protect Grace from their murderous means in his weakened human condition? Can Grace find a way to defy the laws of nature and keep their love from growing cold? Twilight fans, HERE is the worthy successor to your fav series. There is abundant romance, a little sex (mostly off page), a gorgeous, swoon-worthy boy, some suspenseful fight scenes and best of all, a strong, smart heroine who puts passive Bella to shame. I have to admit I rolled my eyes a little over Sam’s near-perfection (a song-writing literary werewolf who loves Rilke’s poetry and can read it in the original German? REALLY?), but even cynical old me got a little misty on the last page, which may be my favorite ending in recent history. A lovely Fall-into-Winter book for now, and a great romance anytime.

Set in an alternate-history America right after the Civil War, Patricia Wrede’s frontier fantasy details an Old West where magicians expediate westward expansion by maintaining a great spell wall that keeps the giant woolly mammoths and steam dragons at bay. Everyone learns basic spell casting in school, with the exception of the Rationalists, a group that is philosophically opposed to using magical means to make life easier. Born into a large magically inclined family, Eff is child number thirteen, generally considered not only unlucky but downright evil. Eff is neither, though she fears every moment that she is destined to “go bad.” Opposite in reputation is her twin brother Lan, born the seventh son of a seventh son and therefore destined to develop into a naturally powerful magician. When their father, a professor of magic, is given the opportunity to teach in a borderland school, he moves the whole family west where Eff and Lan both face situations that test their mettle. Soon Eff has to decide whether to embrace her questionable power or deny her magical heritage altogether. This leisurely paced fantasy has all the hallmarks of an authentic frontier journal. Like a real pioneer would, Eff mostly relates the events of her unusual family’s life with little fanfare, only wavering occasionally when confessing her insecurities about being a thirteenth child. Whole seasons pass in a few sentences if there’s nothing important to impart. Eff assumes any reader of her journal would know all about the casually mentioned steam dragons and different magical traditions, so she doesn’t go into a lot of description. This is both interesting and frustrating, as I wanted to know more so I kept reading to see if there was more! Alas, there was not. Wrede challenges you to make your own pictures of her whimsical Western world with just enough details to jump start your imagination. In addition, Wrede draws neat parallels between ideas prevalent in our Old West and her fantasy version, including the philosophy of Manifest Destiny, the concept of the American melting pot, and the age old battle between book learnin’ and common sense. This odd little tome won’t be for everyone, but having said that, if you enjoyed how Wrede and her co-author Caroline Stevermer recreated Regency England with evil wizards in the charming Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, then you will most definitely want to hit the trail with Eff and Lan. And for more alternative history fun, be sure to check out Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan.