Gone

Written by: Michael Grant
Pages: 558
In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.

Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what’s happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It’s a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else…

When “Left Behind” meets “X-Men” with a spattering of “Lord of the Flies” you get “Gone” by Michael Grant.

It seemed like your typical day until everyone over the age of 14 vanishes in the blink of an eye. Cars crash, buildings burn, and kids wander the streets lost, confused, and scared at first. But what happens next?

This dystopian novel takes you to the darkness of a world gone mad, a world where suddenly children are left to their own devices. When your town elders consist of ninth graders, things quickly descend into chaos.

A few kids step up to the plate to keep things running as smoothly as they can. Others wrest power through bullying.

It’s not a unique story. Until you throw in the talking coyotes and the super powers. Or the sphere that walls in the community of kids. That alone gives you enough of a mystery that you cannot stop turning the pages. For me, I wanted to know why the adults *poofed* in the blink of an eye, and why kids turning 15 poof on their birthdays as well. The town’s nuclear power plant appears Ground Zero for the phenomenon, but what caused it?

By the end of the first book, you end up with about as many questions as answers.  In a good way. Left wide open for the sequel, without the annoying cliffhanger makes me want to dig right into the second book.  Which happens to already reside on my e-Reader. Thank goodness. I’m hooked.

This book definitely falls into the “Chunkster” category at a whopping 558 pages.  While geared toward young adults, it is not annoyingly juvenile. With a setting closer to today than the distant future, a reader can easily pick up the book and understand the world that Michael Grant creates within the pages.

As far as dystopian novels go, I consider it a lighter fare, at least compared to some of what I’ve read this year. I look forward to the second book, hoping that it will answer more questions as things get more desperate.

–Lady O