When I was in elementary school I remember being frightened by the nuclear holocaust. Images of mushroom clouds and vast landscapes of dust haunted my daydreams. However, fallout is low on my list of worries these days. In fact, I had to Google "nuclear cloud" because I couldn't remember its shape. No, these days I'm haunted by a different post-apocalyptic reality - drought.
Gabrielle Zevin visits this world in her book all these
things I've done. Her narrator Anya Balanchine is a junior in high school. She
lives with her grandmother and two siblings. Her older brother Leo is being
courted by the mob side of the family - which keeps the black market supplied with
contraband chocolate. Her younger sister Natty has nightmares about her
parents' deaths.
Drained swimming pools, ninety second showers, and the
rarity of oranges are related matter-of-factly as Anya and her friends go from
coffee speakeasies to discos in deserted museums. Along with the typical
teenage stressors of boyfriends and science quizzes, Anya must keep her family
together despite attempted murder charges, threats from the DA's office, and
the death of her grandmother.Oh,and hardly a drop to drink.
all these things I've done will keep you up the first night
reading. And the second, third, and fourth? Ruminating.
2 comments:
sounds spooky but good!
I too remember being so concerned with nuclear war as a child....what were our teachers teaching us?? I may have to check this book out.
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