Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Every generation has experienced at least one life changing event. One of those days or events that you think about for the rest of your life and say “I know exactly where I was the minute I heard or I saw (fill in the blank)…” For instance, for you it might be September 11th or Hurricane Katrina. For other generations it would be events like the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion, or President Kennedy’s assassination. The day John Lennon was shot or the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Maybe even the day the astronauts first walked on the moon.

The moon. That grayish sphere in the night sky that waxes and wanes: new, quarter, half, full, and back again. Peacefully orbiting the Earth. You might admire it or completely disregard it but Miranda and her family will never forget it or the day the moon changed their life, their world forever.

It was like a scene straight from the movies, one like Armageddon, Deep Impact, or The Day After Tomorrow. Scientists say an asteroid will hit the moon and it becomes one of those can’t miss, once in a lifetime events to see—like Halley’s Comet. Even the teachers are so captivated by the news that the homework in every subject is about the moon, even French! So on the night of May 18, Miranda, Mom, and her younger brother Jonny head out to the road, set up their lawn chairs and turn their eyes to the sky. But what they see is not a miracle or anything spectacular. It is quite possibly the most horrifying image they will ever see. Because just like in those movies, something goes horribly wrong. And when the asteroid hits the moon, it knocks the moon off its axis, out of its orbit, and pushes it closer to Earth. Its like when you play marbles and one marble hits another and pushes it diagonally.

The problem wasn’t just that the moon looks terrifying, too close and too bright. But it has caused horrendous chaos. Gas prices have soared to $12 a gallon (and rising), electricity blacked out for hours and then days at a time, and grocery store shelves quickly and completely emptied. Earthquakes and tsumanis devastate the coast, wiping out cities and millions of people. Volcanos begin erupting, even those that had been dormant for centuries. Winds blow smoke and ash thousands of miles away ultimately blocking out the sun’s light and heat. As summer quickly turns to winter, Miranda begins to wonder whether it will ever again be Life As We Knew It, where they have enough food in storage and whether they will ultimately survive. This is Miranda’s story.