Gone by Michael Grant

Pages: 558

Intended Audience: Teens and Mature Tweens

Genre: Supernatural Thriller

Notes for parents: Contains cruelty and violence.

The Back Cover

In the blink of an eye.

Everyone disappears.

Gone.

Everyone except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not a single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Gone, too, are the phones, internet, and television. There is no way to get help.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It’s a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen and war is imminent.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

Everyone over the age of 15 in the nuclear power plant town of Perdido Beach has disappeared and chaos ensues. This is the first book in a six part series.

What’s good?

“Welcome to Perdido Beach, where our motto is: Radiation, what radiation?” (Love this quote!) This is a fast-paced, action-packed, witty, violent saga. There is no rest for the wicked as this Lord of the Flies meets X-men a la Maze Runner story unfolds. The five hundred plus pages fly by quickly as these youngsters are forced to survive in a post-adult world. Have I mentioned it’s fast-paced? It’s also witty, engaging and a whole lot of fun.

Best part: When Albert goes to the library: "He found a set of encylopedias—like Wikipedia, but paper and very bulky ... He jumped from volume to volume…It was exactly like following hyperlinks, but slower, and with more lifting." (p. 198)

What’s not so good?

The short, choppy sentences effectively increase the pace to the point of exhaustion. It was like playing a video game where the action only stops if you die. The simplified characters are mostly stereotypes of the average teens and tweens and their development is stunted in favor of, you guessed it, more action. Their capacity for such maturity is also a bit dubious.

Worst part: Fallout Alley Youth Zone.

Recommendations þþþþo

This book is written for the reader who needs constant action. While that’s not typically my style of book, I enjoyed this one immensely. However, exhausted from having read it, I didn’t reach for book two. Instead I’ll be looking for something, hopefully, a little less high-speed for my next book.

Grant, Michael. Gone. New York: HarperTeen, 2008.