Review: The Dead and the Gone

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I received this audiobook from Susan Beth Pfeffer herself. She occasionally gives items away on her blog, and when she offered a few audiobooks, I asked for one. It arrived during the spring, but I waited until winter to listen to it. Some parts of the book take place during extreme cold, and I wanted the extra atmosphere of snow and cold when I listened to Robertson Dean read the book.

I had previously read this book in a print edition, and I loved it. I still loved it as an audiobook, but I did find it slightly more frustrating. Small things that I didn't notice in the print edition--such as the repeated use of "said" as a speech tag, even when asking a question--drew my attention when I heard it spoken. Thankfully, those moments were few and far between.

This is the story of Alex Morales and his sisters Julie and Bri. They're NY Puerto Ricans, and they're home alone the night the asteroid strikes the moon, knocking it closer to earth's orbit. Their mother has been called into work at the hospital and took the subway. Their father is in Puerto Rico for a family funeral. Their older brother is in the Marines. Being alone like this wouldn't be a problem, except that Mami never comes home from work. And, except for one phone call, there's been no contact with Papi. The moon caused massive tidal waves, and Alex doesn't know if anyone in his family is safe. Alex worries over their loss, over all of the dead & the gone, but those worries quickly become secondary in his struggle to keep himself and his sisters alive in this changed and changing world.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the faith. I'm not a religious person, but I love how important faith was in the Morales family, how it kept them alive at the worst of times. Unlike the first of the Moon books, Life As We Knew It, which features a very destructive church, the church of this book is both affirmative and supportive.

All in all, I love this book, and I recommend it highly.



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