Book Review: How I Live Now

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Rosoff, Meg. 2004. HOW I LIVE NOW. New York: Random House. ISBN 0385746776

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Fifteen year old Daisy is sent away from her home in New York City by her father and evil pregnant stepmother to live with her aunt and cousins in the English countryside. Everything seems fine until England is invaded by terrorists while Aunt Penn is out of the country for work. At first, the children enjoy their freedom in an adult free home, though even in this happy time, difficult subjects like eating disorders and forbidden sexual relationships are addressed. Inevitably, the children are discovered and the house is commandeered by soldiers. The girls are separated from the boys, and Daisy must take responsibility for keeping herself and her little cousin Piper alive. When they finally make it back home, Daisy regains contact with her father and is taken home to New York. Years later when she is able to return to England, she finds her cousin and lover disturbed and drastically changed by the horrific things he witnessed during the war.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book is not for the faint of heart. The plot is intense and the sexual content and images of the destruction of war might make some readers uncomfortable. Unfortunately, the lives of many real teens are equally as intense and this book reflects subjects that they might actually be dealing with in their lives. Daisy must use her own moral compass to decide what is right and wrong for herself, acknowledging that many of her decisions would not be accepted by the outside world.

Rosoff is believable when she attempts to put her take on what would happen if we entered World War III. Readers will come out of this book feeling as if they have been through a war themselves.

4. BOOK REVIEWS
Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: "readers will emerge from the rubble much shaken, a little wiser and with perhaps a greater sense of humanity"
HORN BOOK: "a winning combination of acerbic commentary, innocence, and sober vision"

5.CONNECTIONS
*Allow students to write private journal entries about a situation where they made a decision that they thought was right for them, even though they knew that others might find it wrong. Sharing should be optional.
*Use this book to start an open conversation about war and their related feelings and worries.