The World Ends in April
by Stacy McAnulty (Author)
Is middle school drama scarier than an asteroid heading for Earth? Find out in this smart and funny novel by the author of The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl.
Every day in middle school can feel like the end of the world. Eleanor Dross knows a thing or two about the end of the world, thanks to a survivalist grandfather who stockpiles freeze-dried food and supplies--just in case. So when she reads about a Harvard scientist's prediction that an asteroid will strike Earth in April, Eleanor knows her family will be prepared. Her classmates? They're on their own!
Eleanor has just one friend she wants to keep safe: Mack. They've been best friends since kindergarten, even though he's more of a smiley emoji and she's more of an eye-roll emoji. They'll survive the end of the world together . . . if Mack doesn't go away to a special school for the blind.
But it's hard to keep quiet about a life-destroying asteroid--especially at a crowded lunch table--and soon Eleanor is the president of the (secret) End of the World Club. It turns out that prepping for TEOTWAWKI (the End of the World as We Know It) is actually kind of fun. But you can't really prepare for everything life drops on you. And one way or another, Eleanor's world is about to change.
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School Library Journal
Gr 3-7--Eleanor's grandfather is a "prepper," a person who takes preparing for disasters to a new level. She doesn't enjoy participating in her grandfather's emergency drills as much as she once did--that is, until she comes across a website run by a former Harvard professor that forecasts a devastating asteroid collision that will cause The End of the World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) in just a few months. Her grandfather's influence makes it easy for Elle to become obsessed with preparing for the impact despite her father's objections. Her mother died several years ago, so she can't talk to her about it. It's hard to tell if her best friend Mack believes her, but he goes along with her plans. Elle starts a club at school and writes a newsletter to teach fellow students survival skills. They drink toilet water through a filtration straw, pack Bug-Out Bags, and learn about edible plants, but when even Mack and new friend Londyn don't take her warnings seriously enough, Elle ratchets up her efforts and lands in big trouble. The author does a good job of matching the pace of the writing to Elle's state of mind; the more frantic and anxious Elle gets, the more quickly the action moves. It eventually becomes clear that each member of Elle's covertly named "Nature Club" has a reason for wanting the world to end. Readers will be eager to see if TEOTWAWKI comes true (spoiler: it doesn't) and how Eleanor handles returning to school after her alarming predictions fail to come true. VERDICT A fast-paced story that deals with grief, loss, and mental health through the lens of middle school catastrophe. Recommended.--Julie Overpeck, Holbrook Middle School, Lowell, NC
Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Publishers Weekly
Elle's grandfather is a "prepper" who stages drills and stockpiles food and supplies to survive unspecified, inevitable cataclysmic events. The seventh grader becomes a convert to his cause after embracing online posts by a sacked Harvard astronomer who predicts that an asteroid will soon destroy Earth. Elle convinces her kind and witty best friend, Mack, who is blind, to help her launch a clandestine survival club at school, and she also teams up with her snippety former nemesis, Londyn, to publish the Doomsday Express newsletter to prepare their peers for the imminent Armageddon. Though the overwrought, single-thread plot begins to strain credibility and patience, McAnulty (The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl) adds substantial layers to the story with insights into her emotionally vulnerable protagonists' credence in the pending apocalypse: Elle reasons it will save her from braving school without Mack, who is transferring to a school for the blind; Londyn hopes it will reunite her separated parents. Throughout, snippets of sly humor lighten the novel's potential darkness, as when Elle muses, "I think asteroids have a way of wiping out middle school drama. It's one of the plus sides of the end of the world." Ages 8-12. (Sept.)
Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
" A well-paced, engrossing plot with endearing characters."—Booklist Praise for The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl "Unique and utterly satisfying."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Prepare to fall in love."—School Library Journal, starred review "Lucy's journey is beautifully authentic in this debut brimming with warmth, wisdom, and math."—Publishers Weekly, starred review "McAnulty's well-drawn cast of characters grapple with the difficulties of middle school, friendships, and life. An engaging story, full of heart and hope. Readers of all ages will root for Lucy, aka Lightning Girl. No miscalculations here!" —Kate Beasley, author of Gertie's Leap to Greatness "Fresh story, great characters, a winner!" —Barbara O'Connor, author of Wish "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl is calculated to steal your heart!" - Alan Gratz author of Ban This Book and Refugee
Stacy McAnulty is a concerned Earthling, a lover of all things science-y, and the author of over thirty books for young humans, including the nonfiction chapter-book Save the People! Thwarting Human Extinction. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, three kids, and three dogs.
David Litchfield is the author-illustrator of the award-winning The Bear and the Piano as well as the illustrator of numerous picture books, including Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years and Ocean! Waves for All by Stacy McAnulty. He lives in Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom.JUV039090 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | New Experience
JUV039150 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Special Needs
JUV039240 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Depression & Mental Illness
JUV029030 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Disasters
Families
Family life
People with disabilities
North Carolina
Blind
Clubs
End of the world
Emergency management
