Van Pelt, James.  
SUMMER OF THE APOCALYPSE 
New York : Fairwood Press, 2006
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ISBN 0974657387

Alone in a world filled with unexpected dangers: feral dogs, blood bandits, an insane cop, and a host of other threats, Eric searches for his father through abandoned city streets. Along the way, he finds courage, responsibility and his true love.

Sixty years later, when Eric is seventy-five, he sets out on another journey, perhaps his last journey. This time to save the way of life he remembers but the few survivors have forgotten. His grandson and his grandson’s best friend accompany him on the long walk to the University of Colorado’s library, one of the last repositories of knowledge.

Just as when he was young and searching for his father, the old Eric faces challenges that threaten him and the people he loves.

The two stories of young and old Eric alternate in the novel. Old Eric demonstrates what he learned as a young man and what he still needs to learn. The two points of view shed light on each other in surprising ways, making the novel an interweaving of two tales but one character and one story.

Will Eric find his father? Can he save the remains of civilization from regressing into barbarians? How important and how fragile is our world? SUMMER OF THE APOCALYPSE is a coming of age science fiction story that is both about searching for a parent and the responsibilities of being a parent. It’s about living in modern America told by someone who has never known anything else, and by someone who misses it terribly.   (Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award Nominees 2007-2008)