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Meg Rosoff, . . Random/Lamb, $16.95 (208pp) ISBN 978-0-385-74677-9

This riveting first novel paints a frighteningly realistic picture of a world war breaking out in the 21st century. Told from the point of view of 15-year-old Manhattan native Daisy, the novel follows her arrival and her stay with cousins on a remote farm in England. Soon after Daisy settles into their farmhouse, her Aunt Penn becomes stranded in Oslo and terrorists invade and occupy England.

Daisy's candid, intelligent narrative draws readers into her very private world, which appears almost utopian at first with no adult supervision (especially by contrast with her home life with her widowed father and his new wife). The heroine finds herself falling in love with cousin Edmond, and the author credibly creates a world in which social taboos are temporarily erased. When soldiers usurp the farm, they send the girls off separately from the boys, and Daisy becomes determined to keep herself and her youngest cousin, Piper, alive. Like the ripple effects of paranoia and panic in society, the changes within Daisy do not occur all at once, but they have dramatic effects. In the span of a few months, she goes from a self-centered, disgruntled teen to a courageous survivor motivated by love and compassion.

How she comes to understand the effects the war has had on others provides the greatest evidence of her growth, as well as her motivation to get through to those who seem lost to war's consequences. Teens may feel that they have experienced a war themselves as they vicariously witness Daisy's worst nightmares. Like the heroine, readers will emerge from the rubble much shaken, a little wiser and with perhaps a greater sense of humanity. Ages 12-up. (Aug.)

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Reviewed on: 07/05/2004

Genre: Children's

Analog Audio Cassette - 978-0-307-20722-7

Compact Disc - 978-0-307-28184-5

Downloadable Audio - 1 pages - 978-0-7393-4486-6

Hardcover - 239 pages - 978-0-7862-8878-6

Library Binding - 194 pages - 978-0-385-90908-2

Open Ebook - 1 pages - 978-0-375-89054-3

Paperback - 224 pages - 978-0-553-37605-0

Paperback - 208 pages - 978-0-449-81960-9

Paperback - 240 pages - 978-89-8394-520-4

Paperback - 210 pages - 978-0-14-131801-1

Prebound-Glued - 194 pages - 978-0-7569-6617-1

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Book ReviewsArticles

• MEET WILD BOARSMEET WILD BOARSMeg RosoffBad behavior is utterly unacceptable, of course—but it sure makes for a terrific spectator sport. That's the mindset Rosoff (How I Live Now ) and Continue reading »
• Just in CaseJust in CaseMeg RosoffRosoff's (How I Live Now ) intriguing, stylized novel explores the nature of fate and one teen's attempt to escape his own destiny. After witnessing his Continue reading »
• What I WasWhat I WasMeg RosoffFormer YA author Rosoff delivers an affecting buddy story about two adolescent boys in 1960s Britain. An unnamed man recounts his time as a disgruntled student at St. Oswald’s boarding Continue reading »
• Jumpy Jack and GoogilyJumpy Jack and GoogilyMeg RosoffIrony reigns in this droll story as a trepidatious green snail named Jumpy Jack consults his frightful-looking blue buddy. “There could be a monster nearby and I'm scared of Continue reading »
• Wild Boars CookWild Boars CookMeg RosoffThe “bossy/ and selfish/ and stinky/ and hungry ” foursome of Meet Wild Boars concoct dessert in this droll Continue reading »
• The Bride's FarewellThe Bride's FarewellMeg RosoffPell Ridley is the adventurous heroine in this serviceably told tale, the fourth novel for London-based Rosoff, who has written successfully for the YA market. On her wedding day, Pell leaves town Continue reading »
• Meet Wild BoarsMeet Wild BoarsMeg RosoffBad behavior is utterly unacceptable, of course--but it sure makes for a terrific spectator sport. That's the mindset Rosoff (How I Live Now ) and Blackall (Ruby's Wish ) expertly tap into as they Continue reading »
• There Is No DogThere Is No DogMeg RosoffRosoff (Just in Case) looks at the world’s natural disasters, injustices, and chaos and presents a perfectly reasonable explanation: God is a horny teenage boy. According to this gleefully heretical Continue reading »
• Picture Me GonePicture Me GoneMeg RosoffTwelve-year-old Mila has remarkable powers of observation, but even more impressive is her insight into people’s minds. This may be why her college-professor father takes her with him from London to Continue reading »
• Jonathan UnleashedJonathan UnleashedMeg RosoffRosoff’s buoyant, witty, but less than satisfying seventh novel follows Jonathan Trefoil’s fumbling attempts at adulthood in Manhattan. When Jonathan’s brother asks him to look after his border Continue reading »
• BeckBeckMeg Rosoff, Mal PeetA gritty and inspiring survival story, Peet’s final novel, completed by Rosoff after his death, has the stoic quality and soul of a Steinbeck tale. Set in the 1920s and early ’30s, it traces the saga Continue reading »

• Fall 2004 Flying StartsFive acclaimed fall children's book debuts. Continue reading »
• Fall 2004 Flying Starts: Meg RosoffMeg Rosoff wasn't able to celebrate the glowing reviews her first novel received when they started coming in—she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. "I was in the Continue reading »
• Q & A with Meg Rosoff'PW' spoke with Meg Rosoff about her new book 'Beck' which was started by her good friend Mal Peet before his death in 2015. Continue reading »

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