Gone by Michael Grant

June is Catching Up

As a librarian, and general bibliophile, there is a never ending list of books I want to read. The titles from this month are all books that I have been recommending (and wanting) to read for a while. In some cases, I am embarrassed to admit that ... no, I still haven't read "Insert YA Book that everyone loves" *shame*

So I'm catching up ... better late than never :) 

It's been a pretty typical day so far, until about 10 am ... when in mid sentence Sam's teacher disappears. *Poof* Magic show style ... and it's alarming, but not nearly as alarming as what comes next. All of the adults have gone, in fact, everyone aged 15+ seems to have disappeared. After the initial panic, Sam and his best friend Quinn, and braniac Astrid assess the situation, and try to decide what to do. Someone needs to do something. What are all the little kids doing without supervision? Where did everyone go? Is it happening everywhere, or just at the school? Most importantly ... where are the loved ones of everyone left behind?

With too many questions, and not enough answers, the trio set off to take stock (and try to find their parents and siblings). The bad news is it looks like everyone who was 15 or older are gone without a trace. There seems to be an invisible barrier around the town, too. The good news? No school? It's hard to decide what good could come out of a situation like this. Astrid finds her brother (who has autism) safe and sound - sitting next to the nuclear reactor - and as they arrive back in town they come upon a situation. There is a building on fire with someone trapped inside ... not to mention that the building is next door to the daycare. There's no question that someone needs to step up and start making decisions. Everyone looks to Sam to be their leader, so he does. He runs into the burning building, desperately attempting to find the trapped child and put out the fire. Far from wanting the attention that such behavior warrents, Sam wishes everyone would just shut up about it.

When Caine and the other Coates Academy kids show up in their Hummer, most of the kids just accept them as the natural leaders. It seems to Sam that the whole thing has been discussed and rehearsed, there is a definite theatrical element to their arrival. Frankly, Sam's not really ready to be a leader anyway ... he'll follow Caine, and hope for the best. He's assigned to Fire Chief duty, along with a few of his friends. Some kind of leadership needs to be established if they are going to survive, how bad could it be?

Apparently, really bad. The Coates Academy kids seem to have something special, like powers, and they aren't exactly using them for good. Sam thought that the local bully Orc was bad, until he met Caine's muscled sidekick Drake. More and more kids are starting to exhibit signs of coming into their own special powers as well. What is going on? Is this all the result of the nuclear reactor that resides in their town? Welcome to the FAYZ, Fallout Alley Youth Zone, where no one over 15 seems to exist, people are developing magical powers, and something really crazy is going on.

"'No one knows. All of a sudden every single person over the age of fourteen disappears and there's this barrier and people ... animals ...'
Lana slowly absorbed this new information. 'You mean all the adults? They're gone?'
'Poof,' Quinn said. 'They ditched. They blinked out. They vacated. They took the off-ramp. They cut a hole. They emigrated. Adults and teenagers. Nothing left but kids," (Grant pg. 370, 2008).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:
Hunger by Michael Grant (Gone Series, Book 2)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Grant, Michael. (2008). Gone. New York, NY: HarperTeen.