Gone by Michael Grant

Ms. Guiney's Review:
Title: Gone
Author: Michael Grant
Grade: A-
Ideal readers: Boys and girls ages 12 and up (some violence)

Summary:
Gone is the story (okay warning a rather long story-over 500 pages) of an average kid on an average day where both turn out to be not so average. The main character, Sam, is sitting in another boring class of his freshman year and suddenly the teacher "poofs" actually "poofs" as in disappears. You come to discover that everyone over the age of 14 disappears from their town. Besides adults disappearing, they also lose internet, phones and any connection outside of their town. A major power struggle ensues between the town kids and the local boarding school prep kids. The not so average part comes from the nuclear power plant in their town, which may or may not have caused the disappearances. To add to the issues, some of the teens develop super-human powers and animals begin mutating- including talking wolves! The final issue of suspense is what happens when one of the teens turns 15? Will they disappear too or is the "poofing" over? I was very hesitant to pick up this book, the cover was a complete turn off for me, but once I started I couldn't stop reading. This is a must read for your 8th grade year. It is very similar to Lord of the Flies and you will find numerous connections to the theme and plot of that story, with just a little hint of Stephen King-like suspense in the supernatural elements. It is a definite page turner!



If you like this, you might like: