Books to Read...When It Feels Like the End of the World

The last few years have been a doozy. Unless you've literally been hiding under a rock, you know what I'm talking about. Also, if you have been hiding under a rock, is there room for one more under there? But even when the world isn't in a state of chaos, sometimes what's happening in our individual lives still makes it feel like the end of the world. The characters in the books below can relate--and sometimes they really ARE facing the end of the world.

It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit
By Justin A. Reynolds
Scholastic Press, 2022. Fiction.

Twelve year old Eddie is grounded at home doing laundry when the power goes out. He sets out to see what's going on, meeting up with other neighbors on the way. It soon seems that not only are they the only ones left in the neighborhood, they might be the only ones left anywhere.

It's the End of the World as I Know It
By Matthew Landis
Dial Books For Young Readers, 2019. Fiction.

Since Derrick lost his mom, he's been convinced the end of the world is just around the corner. He's obsessed with a doomsday blog that tells him how to prepare to handle the impending end and is busy outfitting his shed to keep him safe and stockpiling food when the neighbor girl, Misty, reappears from a near death experience. Misty is determined to assist Derrick with his preparations and their blossoming friendship might just help them both regain their footing in life.

Race the Night
By Kirsten Hubbard
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016. Fiction.

Eider is living with the last of humankind behind a fence on a desert ranch. She can't help but think about the world before and about a little sister who never existed. When Teacher tells the children they will be tested for "specialness", Eider and the other children start to question everything.

The World Ends In April
By Stacy McAnulty
Random House Books For Young Readers, 2019. Fiction.

When Eleanor reads an an article stating that an asteroid will hit the Earth in April, she starts a secret club at school to prepare kids for the end of the world.

Geeked Out
By Obert Skye
Henry Holt and Company, 2018. Fiction.

Even in a post apocalyptical world, school carries on! Geeky Tip and his nerdy friends start a secret vigilante group to try and save their middle school.

Comments

Review: Faker

Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...

Review: The Bletchley Riddle

The Bletchley Riddle By Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin New York: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2024. Fiction. 392 pages. It's spring of 1940, Hitler has swept through most of Europe, and people believe England will be next. Half Polish-Jewish, half American Jakob has been recruited from Cambridge to Bletchley Park where they are working on deciphering the enigma machine. Jakob's sister Lizzie, meanwhile, is being forced to move from London to Cleveland to live with her grandmother after her mother disappeared in a 1939 attack in Poland. Lizzie manages to escape the keeper her grandmother sent for her to bring her to America and makes her way to Bletchley, where she's eventually given the task of delivering messages between departments. When secret messages begin appearing with Lizzie's belongings, she must decipher them to find the truth about her mother's past and location, while keeping the secrets away from the MI5 agent that seems a little t...

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013. 336 pgs. Fantasy Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life. He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines. Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...

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