Gone By Michael Grant Release Date: Available Now Katherine Tegen Books Ratings Action Romance Characters Overall Purchase on Amazon Purchase at Powell’s Find independent bookstores

In an instant all the adults are gone. Everyone over fifteen vanishes. Leaving behind teens, children, and toddlers. A new society not able to deal with no bedtimes, no kisses for boo-boos, and especially not ready to deal with the ambitious teens and bullies who see this as their time to rule.

Sam never wanted to be a hero, but once before he took over when the school bus driver had a heart attack. He saved a bus full of kids that day, and now they expect him to be the hero once more. But all he wants to do is go surf.

But as things fall apart around him, as the true intentions of Cain, the teen ready to be their savior, are quickly revealed, and especially as his 15th birthday nears, Sam realizes that he has to step up, be the savior once more, if just to save his own life.

Wow. This book blew me away. And I had gone into it thinking I probably wouldn’t enjoy it that much. It’s a thick book, intimidatingly thick, and it’s one of those premises that sounds interesting, but you just know it could be done horribly by the wrong author. So I thought this might be the kind of book that I would read a few chapters, decide it wasn’t that good, and walk away from. Little did I know I wouldn’t be able to put it down until I finished it, only to immediately pick up the next book. For such a long book it has an amazing pace and I can’t recall anything I would say needed to be cut (though sometimes I wish something would have been cut, just because I don’t like bad things happening to characters I like, and Grant is not afraid to make bad things happen).

One aspect I really loved was how well Grant was able to make the teenagers/kids really act their ages. Sure, there were lots of moments I wished they would act older, that they wouldn’t be such *kids* but that was one of the best done elements of the book. No adult ideas on how kids should act, these were real kids dealing with a crisis. In general all the characters were well done and unique, I had very little trouble telling anyone apart or forgetting who a character was that hadn’t appeared for a while. Moral ambiguity and the problems of what’s "right" in a crisis also came across well, with might vs. democracy vs. charisma being an early element as the kids try to figure out how to govern their new home (something no one who should take the job really wants to do). These elements make me compare the book to Lord of the Flies, and it is similarly scary in those elements.

I did wonder though why 15 was the cut off for an "adult". Seems like 16 or 18 would have made more sense. I guess it was in part because that was how many years ago the meteor hit, but that only makes so much sense. I’d complain about how even by the end of the second book I didn’t really feel like I had any concrete idea why all of this happened and how, except that it never really mattered to me while reading. The books are so well done that I don’t really find myself caring what brought them to this situation, I’m just fascinated by watching them deal with it.

I’m very surprised I haven’t heard anything about this book. I’ve seen it around, but don’t remember any "You have to read this, it’ll stick with you" sorts of recommendations like Hunger Games got. Yet it deserves the same sort of praise. My personal theory is that because the main character is a boy, and most of the readers/reviewers I hear from are like me and tend towards girl narrators (girls its seems, consciously or unconsciously, tend to be drawn to strong female narrators), they are therefore less likely to give a book like this a chance.Yet, don’t despair lovers of strong females! There are plenty of great girls in these books, from the smart bookworm who is the brains behind the leader (though she’s happy not to be the one ultimately in charge) to the tough healer who just wants it to be over and to stop being so special.

Ratings Reasons:
Action 5 – You’d think a book as long as this would drag, yet it moves at an incredible pace. I don’t recall ever setting it down and being hesistant to go back to it.

Romance 4 – The romance is decent, but for some reason, I just wasn’t quite feeling it. Maybe it was all the other things going on that were more important. Which isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the ships.

Characters 5 – There were a lot of characters, yet they all came alive and I felt their pain, hope, and confusion.

Overall 5 – Read it. Please, I want someone to talk to about it! I definitely think this book, and the sequel Hunger, should be getting more buzz.

Extras:
First off, immediatly upon finishing reading this book, read Hunger. Its just as good and interesting, and makes everything even more complex and fascinating.

This seems to be Michael Grant’s first book, but at least his website has a few cool features. First, there is a story on the front page, from the point of view of a character I can’t quite place. Plus, you can find out tips about how to survive in the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone) and take a quiz that will tell you your likelihood of survival. Not counting that I’m over 15 to start with, I scored a 10, so I’d probably survive. Maybe. If I chose the right side.

If you haven’t already read it, another book I’d highly recommend along these lines is Hunger Games. It’s an amazing book and has a similar theme of children/teens surviving in a harsh world, without grownups. Of course, in their world, the grownups are watching them fight to the death.

Lord of the Flies is of course the other book that comes to mind, and now I’m rather sad I haven’t read it in years. Perhaps I’ll have to pick up a copy sometime soon, as most of what I remember of it is actually from the Simpson’s episode.

Parents: 13 + This can be a harsh book, in fact, depending on the kid I might even go higher to saying 16+. There isn’t any sex (though some typical teenage longings), but the characters are in a bad situation that only gets worse. There is violence, death, and teens being as cruel to each other as some of the worst dictators have been. But, it’s also an amazing study of human nature and society, much along the lines of Lord of the Flies.

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