Aftershocks

by Marisa Reichardt

Overview

A gripping YA novel about two strangers struggling to survive a massive California earthquake

When a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits California, Ruby is trapped in a laundromat with Charlie, a boy she had her first conversation with only moments before. She can’t see anything beyond the rubble that she’s trapped beneath, but she’s sure someone will come save them soon. As the hours and days tick by, Ruby and Charlie struggle to stay hopeful—and stay alive. Ruby has only Charlie’s voice and her memories to find the hope to keep holding on. Will the two make it out alive? And if they do, what will they have lost to the earthquake? Riveting, tense, and emotionally complex, Aftershocks weaves together the terror and hope of a catastrophic event while showing the ways that disasters can change and unite us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419739170
Publisher:	Amulet Books
Publication date:	09/29/2020
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Marisa Reichardt was born and raised in Southern California. Her debut novel, Underwater, was an Indies Introduce New Voices pick and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. She lives in Los Angeles with her family, and can usually be found huddled over her laptop in a coffeehouse or swimming in the ocean.

Editorial Reviews

"This is a thrilling, provocative, and empowering look at fighting for survival while remembering the important things in life, like friendship, family, and love."

Booklist

"This is a thrilling, provocative, and empowering look at fighting for survival while remembering the important things in life, like friendship, family, and love."—Booklist

"This is an inspiring and complex survival story that examines self-doubt, addiction, loss, love, and the human condition."—School Library Journal

"The accounts of the quake and its immediate aftermath and the relationship that develops between Ruby and Charlie are immediate, visceral, and compelling."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

08/01/2020

Gr 9 Up—California high school student Ruby is devastated when she discovers that her mom is dating her water polo coach. She cannot bear the thought of attending practice and being subjected to the possible rumors or taunts surrounding her mother's relationship. In her agitated state, she recklessly decides to skip practice and head to a local laundromat to see if she can get a stranger to buy her beer. Shortly after starting up a conversation with her would-be alcohol procurer, Charlie, an enormous earthquake strikes. The walls of the laundromat collapse, and Ruby and Charlie find themselves buried alive in the destruction. Scared, injured, and only able to hear each other's voices through the rubble, Charlie and Ruby survive each hour by sharing memories and the challenges they have each faced in their lives. Problems that had seemed dire become starkly insignificant when the two are confronted with their own mortality. As hours turn into days, and aftershocks begin to rumble, Ruby wonders if they will ever escape. This is an inspiring and complex survival story that examines self-doubt, addiction, loss, love, and the human condition. VERDICT Reichardt pens a captivating story that is sure to be a popular title in any young adult collection. For fans of Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It, Ruta Sepetys's Salt to the Sea, or Michael Northrop's Trapped.—Ellen Fitzgerald, Naperville P.L., IL

School Library Journal

2020-05-17
Two teens are trapped in a California earthquake—a big one.

Aghast to discover that her mother is dating her high school water polo coach, Ruby skips practice in favor of the laundromat beside the liquor store, where she hopes she can find someone to buy her a beer. She's approaching the only other person there, a boy who appears slightly older than her, when the ground begins to thrash. Ruby dives for cover but the building collapses—she's trapped. So is the boy, named Charlie. Though they can't move or see each other, they converse over the next day and a half while injury, dehydration, and aftershocks make their situation ever more perilous. When rescuers eventually come, Ruby is reunited with her mother and friends. Told in Ruby's first-person voice, with flashbacks detailing her relationships with her mother, boyfriend, and best friend, Mila, the accounts of the quake and its immediate aftermath and the relationship that develops between Ruby and Charlie are immediate, visceral, and compelling. But the rescue comes less than halfway through the book, and after that both pacing and plot falter. Suspense leaks out, and what should be emotional reunion scenes feel underwritten. The novel defaults to an all-white cast.

The final third doesn't quite match the can't-put-down promise of the start. (resources) (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews