How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, published by Wendy Lamb Books.
I can't even express how powerful this story is. This is a novel for the ages, one that is a sure-fire classic. It should be taught in classrooms. It should be criticized, analyzed, and shared between many. It's the story of Daisy, a fifteen-year-old from New York who goes to live with her cousins in England. While she is there a war breaks out and her Aunt Penn leaves to avert war and try to maintain order. Obviously she is unsuccessful because shortly after there is news of a bomb, Aunt Penn can't make it home, and the children are left to fend for themselves. Daisy, Isaac, Piper, and Edmond must fend for themselves, but they are too busy celebrating life without adults to realize the severity of the situation.
The novel soon reminds me of The Diary of Anne Frank because of Daisy's unreliable narrative, the inevitable war and chaos that consume her life, and the forbidden romance that ensues. The novel may be short, but Rosoff strikes all the right chords as she explains the dissolution of the cousins, the pain and uncertainty this causes Daisy, and the inevitable escape that Daisy and Piper partake in to be reunited with their family. An aspect of this novel that appears unrealistic, besides this newfound war in England, is the magic that the cousins possess. They have a special knowledge of and communication with nature and animals which greatly aids them during the war.
My main problem with this novel was the ending. I didn't appreciate the abruptness to Daisy's involvement in the war or her return home. I didn't fully understand the timeline or how the war ended (or ever really what the war was about in the first place). Plus the relationship between Edmond and Daisy was left open-ended, which I less than appreciated. But I figure that's how life works and that makes the novel more realistic in my eyes. Life is constantly evolving; it's worth the confusion.
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