Pfeffer, Susan Beth.
THE DEAD AND THE GONE
Orlando : Harcourt, 2008
IL YA
ISBN 0152063110

(2 booktalks)

Alex is a hard working kid living in New York.  He dreams of going to college and having a successful life.  He comes from a good working class family and has a scholarship to a prestigious prep school.  He even has a shot at becoming class president his senior year.  Things are really working out for him.  But that is all about to change.  The night the asteroid hits the moon knocking it out of orbit changes life for everyone.  Now Alex's parents are missing, his older brother is deployed and it is up to Alex to keep his younger sisters safe.  And fed.  And it is getting harder and harder to find food.  If you have read Pfeffer's book Life As We Knew It and wondered what was happening in the big cities, take a look at Alex's life as he struggles with the aftermath of the moon shift.

Booktalk #2

Think about all the wonderful things you have in your life. You have food and a roof over your head. Now imagine that all of this was going to disappear. Imagine that every day you had to strip dead bodies so you could provide food for your family to survive. 
 When an asteroid collides with the moon, Alex Morales, an 18 year old New Yorker, is going through a lot of tough decisions about what he should do with his sisters to keep them safe. Should he send Bri to the convent up state? Should he take Julie to go body shopping with him? Or, most importantly, should he tell his sisters that their parents are never coming home? To find out more about The Morales' and how they fight for their lives, read The Dead and The Gone, by: Susan Beth Pfeffer. (Anastasiya T., student)