Pfeffer, Susan Beth - Life as We Knew It : 352 pages, © 2006

When a meteor is scheduled to collide with the moon, 16-year-old Miranda doesn't think it's a big deal. It happens all the time, right? But this meteor is large enough to knock the moon out of its orbit, causing massive damage to the earth. Suddenly the tides are going crazy, volcanoes are erupting where there were none before, and weather patterns are shifting dramatically.

Told in diary form, Life As We Knew It chronicles Miranda and her family trying to survive the end of the world in rural Pennsylvania.

Red Flags: 

Pfeffer spares no details in this grim story of survival:  some characters die (off stage); living characters are faced with grim choices to avoid starvation or freezing to death; disease (fevers) are depicted in detail.  Sex is mentioned once, and only briefly.  Religion is viewed somewhat negatively, with the only clergy to appear being corrupt, and the narrator makes several negative comments about God. 

Sequels: 

The Dead and the Gone (companion novel)

Readalikes: 

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

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