This World We Live in

It's been over a month since Miranda Evans (from Live As We Knew It) has written in her diary and nearly one year since the catastrophic event of a meteor colliding with the moon. It's springtime and Miranda's brothers Matt and Jon leave home for a few days to see if they can catch some fish to supplement their food supply. When they return, Matt brings with him a girl named Syl, who he introduces as his bride. But that's not the only shock Miranda and her family have to deal with. A few weeks later, Miranda's father, stepmother, and baby brother show up at her door. Accompanying them are three strangers: a man named Charlie Rutherford, and two teenagers, Alex and Julie Morales (from The Dead & The Gone). These five people have crossed America together, becoming, in their own way, a family. Miranda's complicated feelings about Alex--curiosity, resentment, longing, and passion--turn into love. Alex's feelings are equally complex. He plans to escort his sister to a convent so that he will be free to enter a monastery. He wants desperately to live up to his moral code, but his desire for Miranda is too strong. He proposes to Miranda that they take Julie and go to a safe town. But before Miranda and Alex can go off together, a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell, and in its aftermath, Miranda makes a decision that will change forever her life and Alex's, and the world that they live in will never be the same.

SUSAN BETH PFEFFER's first two apocalyptic novels, Life As We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone, were widely praised by reviewers as action-packed, thrilling, and utterly terrifying. Life As We Knew It received numerous starred reviews and honors and was nominated for many state awards. Ms. Pfeffer lives in Middletown, New York.