The Survivors

July 1, 2012
In this sequel to [cf2]Memory Boy[cf1], sixteen-year-old Miles, thirteen-year-old Sarah, and their parents have finally found a place to live after volcanic eruptions decimated the climate, but the Minneapolis-bred family struggles to make it in the remote forest. Tensions are built and then disappointingly fall to the wayside, but fans of wilderness-set survivor stories will be entertained.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

February 1, 2012

Gr 7-10-In this sequel foreshadowed a decade ago in the popular Memory Boy (HarperCollins, 2001), the author deftly interweaves the Newell family dynamics with changes wrought by the post-volcanic apocalypse. Travel restrictions, rationing, black markets, and a vague but pervasive feeling of unease dominate the emerging culture. Guns pretty much equal power. Conflicts between the capable but sometimes bossy Miles and his resentful younger sister, Sarah, as well as with their fairly oblivious parents, are resolved as circumstances require the siblings to learn new skills to wrest a living from the environs of their cabin hideaway in the Minnesota North Woods. Sarah proves to be a quick study, and it is she who develops a tender first-love interest, and later, with her formerly laid-back father, propels the family forward into a world that, while still uncertain, finds them more empowered. Told from a third-person point of view in alternating chapters titled "Miles" and "Sarah," a technique that effectively highlights their differing perspectives, this quick-reading and satisfying tale is not as persistently dark as Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It (Harcourt, 2006), but is thoroughly plausible. It should appeal to readers of futuristic fiction as well as those with an interest in hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. The chapters related to deer hunting are detailed with particular veracity.-Joel Shoemaker, formerly at South East Junior High School, Iowa City, IA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2011
A family fleeing rapidly degenerating social order caused by world-changing volcanic eruptions finds respite and new heart in this well-crafted sequel to Memory Boy (2001). Driven from their comfortable home outside Minneapolis in the previous episode by increasingly brutal hard times and a rising tide of lawlessness, the Newells have taken refuge in an isolated cabin in the north woods--knowing that they have to adapt to radically changed living conditions, and also to keep from being identified by local residents as homeless "Travelers" to be hustled along, or worse. Fortunately, eighth-grader Sarah and her equally urbanized, floundering parents have big brother Miles to lean on, with his tough, commonsense outlook, ready shotgun and a photographic memory stocked with information on living off the land. But they can't always be dependent on him, as they discover when he is sidelined by a devastating injury. Weaver paints a realistic picture of life without electricity or plumbing, from the constant labor required to keep the wood pile stocked to killing and dressing a deer. And, even more compellingly, in the Newells' contacts with others, he portrays a society in which some struggle to maintain cherished values and stability while others succumb to increasing suspicion, parochialism and desperation. Sobering, thoroughly credible and, ultimately, optimistic about the chances of our better natures triumphing when the going gets rough. (Science fiction. 10-13)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 15, 2012
Grades 7-10 Eleven years after Memory Boy (2001), Weaver presents the sequel. Miles, 16, Sarah, 13, and their parents have escaped the dangerous cities after volcanic eruptions trigger massive climate change and civilized behavior takes a backseat to survival. Now hiding in a cabin in the Minnesota woods, they have learned to live off the land, harvesting whatever they can to stay alive. The difficulty is school; while Miles is content with distance education through an alternative school, Sarah craves the contact of other teens and opts to attend the local public school. Her appearance prompts suspicion from local families, who view nonlocals as highly undesirable. She is forced to leave, but not before meeting her first boyfriend, the unusual and charming Ray. Alternating chapters focus on Sarah and Miles, as Sarah becomes a sharpshooter and practical Miles is seriously injured and no longer able to function as the family's guardian. Although this tightly written and engrossing novel can stand alone, readers not already familiar with Memory Boy will likely seek out the earlier title.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)