I would imagine that Susan Beth Pfeffer would have a hard time writing a sequel to a fantastic book titled Life As We Knew It. but, she sure made a great one! The Dead and The Gone is an amazing book in an amazing series. there is a lot more religion in this book then there was in the first one, but i think it really adds to the story. This book is about, not Miranda like the first, but about a boy named Alex, who lives in New York. they both suffer from the same things - after an astroid hits the moon, Alex has to learn to survive with limited resources. He has to take care of his two sisters, and he has no idea where his parents are, which adds on to the stress. readers learn to not take advantage of the little things like food and hot water and clean clothes - because one day, they might not be there. The Dead And The Gone is a fantastic novel. the writing is amazing, and there are many similarities and differences between this book and the first. Alex learns more about himself, and finds strengths and weaknesses that he had not known existed before the astroid hit the moon. Written in journal entries, also like the first, this book will blow you away. You will experience everything Alex goes through as he takes on the responsibilities of not a 17-year-old boy, but a 30-year-old man. you will be right next to him as he learns to survive surrounded by the dead and the gone.

In my opinion, this book was better than the first one. It was completely opposite from Life as We Knew It. They saw dead bodies all the time; many people were at the food giveaways; disease was surrounding them; they lived in a highly populated city; and there was a lot more death. This novel was the complete opposite from Life as We Knew It. Even the characters were opposite! (Miranda has two brothers; Alex had two sisters and a brother). It was interesting seeing Alex's personality change during his experiences. For example, he used to love rules, but he eventually started to dislike them as times grew increasingly difficult. I admired Alex's maturity and his ability to control his anger. He prayed a lot and his Catholic beliefs really played into his personality. Alex knew when he had sinned, and accepted when he was wrong (this is especially hard for men/boys, with their "pride"). Everyone matured, just like in Life as We Knew It. And it was obvious that Alex looked up to his "gone" older brother Carlos and his father Papi. He constantly thought about what they would have done, and if they would be proud of him. But several parts didn't make sense: if Alex, Julie and Briana has the apartment all to themselves, why couldn't they break into the other homes and see what supplies they could find? Also, Chris' father was way too nice to Alex and his family, considering he barely knew them. And, considering they lived so close to everyone else in the city, it should have been extremely likely the would have died from sickness. (I know, there would be no story if this happened, but I just wanted to point out). Especially at the end of this novel, I was extremely moved and it was very emotional. It was not predictable at all. In general the novel was still a bit dull for me since I like fast-paced books. However, I enjoyed this novel, and I look forward to reading the last book, This World We Live In.

Susan Beth Pfeffer wrote "Life As We Knew It" about a cataclysmic disaster and how a family in a small rural town must fight to stay alive. In this companion book "The Dead & The Gone" she tells about the same disaster only from the point of view of a family in the big city of New York. Impossible to put down. The characters and story are so well written that you will be drawn in - so much so that you will want to start stockpiling food yourself. Can't wait to read the third book where these two families will meet and together will continue their fight to stay alive.