Life As We Knew It book evaluation

FCA's

1.  Identify a position (5)

2.  Explain your criteria, application, reasoning for your position with quoted evidence as support. Please indicate the page number of your quote in parenthesis following the quote. (10)

3.  Explain the position of the opposition and provide counterargument.  (10)

I would recommend Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer to all high school students. Life As We Knew It was exciting and it took a bad turn to worse throughout the book. It grabbed my attention because it was a different style of writing than I’m use to. The book was well written and kept the readers attention.

One of the reasons why I enjoyed Life As We Knew It was because of the way it was written in diary form. In my opinion it made the book more interesting. It interested me because it was from one character’s point of view. It was a simple book to read and I liked that it didn’t drag on with every character’s point of view on everything.Most books high school students read aren’t written in this style, so it grabbed my attention quickly because it was something different. The book leaves the reader unsure of what will happen next and who will survive, so it keeps you turning the papers.“I hate the moon. I hate tides and earthquakes and volcanoes. I hate a world where things that have absolutely nothing to do with me can destroy my life and the lives of people I love.”(Page ?) The book is more for high school students in my opinion because it’s easier to relate to since the point of view is from a sixteen year old. Most teenagers would react how Miranda did during the hard times with little food not knowing if you would survive, so it’s easy to relate too.I enjoyed it that much more since I’m a 17 year old girl so I had a better understanding of how she was feeling and thinking compared to an older audience.  For example, "I understand!" I yelled right back into her face.  "I understand that you don't trust me."(Page 102). I understand Miranda’s because I would probably react the same, but an older audience would expect Miranda to be more mature and more understanding since they can’t relate to someone her age. Most books read in high school are hard to relate to because the point of view is to old and mature for us to understand at the time and really understand the meaning. As I read about the volcano ash blocking the sun resulting in colder weather I didn’t expect things to get much worse, but they did. INSERT QUOTE. The reader didn’t expect some of the natural disasters to occur and that’s what made the book interesting and exciting.

People may argue that Life As We Knew It was boring because it was written in a diary form and it didn’t keep the readers attention since it’s only in one person’s point of view. Some people might have said it was harder to relate to because it was in the view of sixteen year old girl, but that’s why I think this books’ main audience is for high school students. If the book was written any other way it wouldn’t flow as good and it would begin to become boring because it would be every character’s point of view so it would be to long and it would be repetitive.The book was easier to read because it was only in one persons point of view. This book would catch most high school students’ attention because it is easier to relate to and see how someone our age would react in a time of crisis.   

In conclusion, Life As We Knew It is definitely a book a high school student shouldn’t pass up. It’s easy to relate to, it’s exciting, and it keeps the reader wanting more. It’s hard to tell what else could go wrong when it seems like everything bad has already happened, but it continues to get worse. Who will survive during these harsh times? Life As We Knew It was a good book and it’s not a one to pass up.