Becky’s Online Reading Group

I know it’s hard to stop (at times). If the majority wants to vote to speed up the pace, then let me know. I don’t want to rush anyone along though. Let me know what you think…

Life As We Knew It
Day 2
Chapters 4 – 6

Chapter 4

Horton. The cat. Just had to laugh.
Brandon. The famous ice skater she’s obsessed with. While I find this in part slightly annoying, it’s not that different than a teen girl being obsessed with an actor or musician. Everyone has their interests. Jonny has baseball. Miranda has swimming and ice skating.

Gas prices and politics. Changing lifestyles and habits.

McDonalds. McDonalds pops up a lot in this chapter. The absence of it and other fast food chains is one of the things that emphasizes just how much life has changed. You take things for granted. You take a lot of things for granted.

“I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald’s would still be open.” (46)

Here’s something to think about. This big catastrophe has put a lot of people out of business. While some jobs will remain in demand, others–most maybe–are not important at all. Which means that many people will not be getting a paycheck…which means that they won’t have money to buy what they need–food and gas and whatnot. Here’s something else to think about…would you want to go to work if it was the end-of-the-world-as-you-knew-it. Would you welcome the distraction?

Rumors in the pizza line. Cookies. Cakes. Bread. Mrs. Nesbitt.

I love Mrs. Nesbitt

National Day of Mourning. Memorial services on the radio. Scary how people are still dying, still drowning because they couldn’t get out of the path of the Ocean.

Cafeteria lunches. It’s funny how these strange urges can hit you.

Another shopping trip. This time for clothes and winter items.

This mom sure is smart. I don’t know that in the month of May I’d have the foresight or intuition to think of how cold it could be or might be later on. Most people are thinking no electricity means no air conditioning means hot, hot, hot. Mom’s thinking, hmm, better prepare to bundle up

This actually reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode. Two end-time scenarios. One where the earth’s orbit shifts (I think) bringing it a few degrees closer to the sun so that it becomes too hot for humans to survive…and the other scenario where the earth’s orbit shifts bringing it a few degrees further from the sun so that it is too cold for humans to survive. Death by ice or fire. It was on a few weeks ago–and it was just really interesting. The episode is “The Midnight Sun.” (part one, part two, part three)

This chapter is all about the small changes that make a big difference in everyones lives. No sports. No prom. No class trip. No fast food. No hot lunches at the cafeteria. No buses. No shopping. No TV. Limited electricity.

Her relationship with Megan. Her conversations. Scary? Reverend Marshall. “God is doing a wonderful thing.”

The highlight of Miranda’s life is that her older brother Matt does make it home, home to stay.

The laundry. Just think of it. Trying to keep clothes and bedding clean without the convenience of a washing machine and dryer. It’s one thing to have it go out for a few days because it’s broken or needs repairs. But to never know if and when you’ll be able to get a load done. No wonder Miranda’s mom is forced into becoming “a hero of the all-night laundry.”

The list of the dead posted on the internet. Scary.

“She [Miranda's mom] found the names of most of the editors she worked with, and her agent, and a lot of writers she’d met over the years . . . .In less than ten minutes, she found over 30 names [of people she knew]. . . .Jonny looked up baseball players. A lot of them were listed as known dead and a lot more were listed as missing/presumed dead. Matt looked up kids from his high school class. Only three were listed as dead, but a bunch were listed as missing/presumed dead. As a test, he looked us up, but none of our names were on any of the lists. And that’s how we know we’re alive this Memorial Day.” (58-59)

Chapter 5

No final exams. A mixed blessing. Happy because who’s not happy about NOT having a test. Of course most students are thrilled that things like homework and tests are being done way in light of the catastrophe. Upsetting because it is just one more sign that things are so not normal. That things that once mattered are now trivial in light of the important things like surviving.

School lunches. Peanut butter and jelly on (increasingly) stale bread. Nothing to look forward to. But something to be thankful for in some respects. Megan not eating. It freaks out Miranda, and it’s definitely freak-worthy. Megan is definitely getting weirder by the day.

Hard conversations about food and survival. Miranda is beginning to wake up to the seriousness of it. To realize in a very small way just how much of a burden it is for her mom and to some extent her older brother, Matt, to worry about how they’re going to survive, how they’re going to manage in the upcoming weeks and months.

Eggs. Mrs. Nesbitt. I love Mrs. Nesbitt. She’s a great neighbor, a great friend. And this is a small glimpse into their lives. Being excited to split two eggs–scrambled–between five people–it’s a sign that things have changed.

Nightmares. Who wouldn’t have nightmares?

“Lately I’ve been trying not to know what’s going on. At least that’s the excuse I’ve been giving myself for not caring about all the stuff that’s happening outside of my little section of Pennsylvania. Who cares about earthquakes in India or Peru or even Alaska?

Okay that’s not fair. I know who cares. Matt cares and Mom cares and if there were any baseball involved, Jonny would care, too. Knowing Dad, he cares. Mrs. Nesbitt, too.

I’m the one not caring. I’m the one pretending the earth isn’t shattering all around me because I don’t want it to be. I don’t want to know there was an earthquake in Missouri. I don’t want to know the Midwest can die, also, that what’s going on isn’t just tides and tsunamis. I don’t want to have anything more to be afraid of.

I didn’t start this diary for it to be a record of death.” (70-71)

A very telling passage, a very honest passage. Life As We Knew It is a coming-of age novel. Miranda is “coming-to-age” at a time when the world is falling apart. Nothing is stable. Nothing is secure. Everything is in flux. Everything is in chaos. Surviving those teen years can be a struggle enough for some teens without taking into consideration the fate of the entire world, the whole human race. Will mankind survive is not the kind of questions that teens should have to deal with.

Fear is real. Miranda might come across as whiny and selfish. I say might. But really who could blame her? Would you be “alright” with everything that’s gone on? Wouldn’t you have your moments of complaining, your moments of despair, your moments where you just can’t take it anymore?

Survival. Changing Personalities and Changing Philosophies.

Maybe Miranda was wrong about her mom caring. At least it seems that way. Charity. Generosity. Goodwill towards all? Family comes first. Even the adults–especially the adults–are having a hard time not putting themselves, their families first. If it’s survival of the strongest, then it’s no time to be nice and compassionate.

Chapter 6

Summer. Jonny is still planning to go to baseball camp. Miranda starts swimming in Miller’s pond in this chapter. She makes a new friend. Dan. They swim. They kiss. They talk about what they wish could happen. Miranda dreams about what it would be like to date in a “normal” world. To be able to date, to shop, to learn to drive, to have fun. Miranda has some pretty happy days in the summer. Her few days or weeks of happiness with Dan are something to treasure.

Peter. The doctor. The mother’s boyfriend. His words of advice about how to stay safe, how to stay healthy. Scary. Mosquitoes have surely benefited from all the catastrophe. Malaria. West Nile. Other diseases that are spread by unsanitary conditions. Scary. And the thing about people with food allergies having the choice of starving to death or risking their lives eating the food they’re allergic too. Scary.

Here is how Miranda describes one of those good days. A day with a good bit of electricity. And after her mother recently tried baking her own bread.

“We have clean sheets to sleep on, a clean house, clean clothes, clean dishes. We spent the evening laughing. It wasn’t 90 degrees in the house when we went to bed. We weren’t hungry. We’re not worried about Dad. I know what it feels like to be kissed by a boy. If I could, I would relive this day over and over. I can’t imagine a more perfect one.” (95-96)

Food lines.
Fights.
Reconciling with family.

So what is everyone thinking??? Are you hooked??? Are you liking it??? Are you wanting to read more, more, more???? Share your thoughts!