Gone by Michael Grant

Gone by Michael Grant

Published in 2008, read on my iPhone, purchased through iBooks for only $1.99!

In this book, everyone over fourteen disappears in the blink of an eye. Kids are left in Perdido Beach by themselves. Luckily, the power plant still works, but everything else: internet, phones, school, and everything the adults controlled is gone along with the adults. The place recalls themselves FAYZ: Fallout Alley Youth Zone. The disappearance isn't the only thing amiss. Kids are developing powers, coyotes can speak, snakes are growing wings, and there's a barrier encompassing them in a twenty mile radius. The kids have to figure out how to deal with each other as well as dangerous new circumstances.

I give this book 3 stars for writing, 4 for story. It was a very interesting story - only kids left, new powers, a power struggle between Coates kids and townies. I read the last two thirds of it all in two days, and it's a pretty hefty book (about 575 pages in print). I didn't know what to expect next. It feels like anything can happen in the FAYZ. There's some "Darkness" trying to take control of everything and even though we know the cause of the FAYZ by the end of Gone, we don't know the cause of the mutations or the origin or purpose of the Darkness or where the adults went. I guess there are six in the series, and the last two haven't been published yet.

The 3 stars for writing is just because the book feels very spread out. It's a huge cast of characters and hard to keep track of all of them, plus the author throws in everybody's POV. But I still really enjoyed it and I will check out the sequel.

Sidenote: These covers are hilarious. Are they supposed to be FOURTEEN? You're not fooling anyone. HarperCollins. . .