Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget."
Published : October 11th, 2011
Format : Hardcover
Source : Library
Author : http://www.ashfallbook.com/
With this realistic apocalyptic novel, Mike Mullin had me seriously freaked out and wondering what I would do if a super-volcano really erupted. I came to the conclusion that I would be one of the ones who would die pretty quickly.
Alex is sick of fighting with his mother, tired of dealing with his father, and annoyed by his brat sister. In other words, he's a typical teenage boy. He lucks out when his parents decide to let him stay home for the weekend while they go visit family a few hours away. Soon after they leave, the super-volcano underneath Yellowstone erupts, catapulting the United States into a world covered by ash.
Quickly, Alex sees what the world is going to become, when his neighbors are attacked by three men. He decides he needs to get to his family and will do whatever it takes to get there. Along the way he meets Darla, a teenage girl who is running a farm, and Darla's mother, the sweetest woman you'll ever meet.
What happens after that is violent, surprising, and shows just what people will do in order to survive.
Ashfall was awesome. I read it as part of Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon this past weekend, and started and finished it in about 4-5 hours. I was seriously squeamish throughout the majority of this book. Anytime Target came into the picture, whenever they were talking about the animals they were eating, all of it.
I was astonished by the FEMA camp. All the starving people, and the fact that none of the people running the camp seemed to care. I mean, come on! Alex and Darla found all that grain in the barges on their way to the camp, and because it "belonged to someone" the people running the camp couldn't touch it?! You had hundred of people starving, for crying out loud! I was literally cheering when Darla saved Alex and together they helped everyone escape.
Ashfall is the first in the series. Ashen Winter comes out October 14th, 2012.
4 shelves! Can't wait for Ashen Winter!!
ooh..your review has me wanting to read this book now. I love this genre and am adding it to my list!
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