TWU - LS 5623 Fantasy & Sci-Fi - THE DEAD AND THE GONE

YA

Pfeffer, Susan Beth. 2008. THE DEAD AND THE GONE. Orlando [Fla.]: Harcourt.

ISBN 9780152063115

PLOT SUMMARY - ANALYSIS

Alex Morales, a junior in high school, is one of three siblings in a deeply Catholic Puerto Rican family.  Alex is working in a pizza parlor in New York dreaming of going to college at Georgetown when the moon gets hit by an asteroid, the electricity goes out, and the city is left in a barbaric, shattered state. Food and water become the new currency and with his parent’s disappearance, Alex is charged with keeping his sisters safe and alive.

Pfeffer writes a grueling story about life and death, safety and sacrifice, and the ability to mentally and spiritually defeat human-fed beliefs. Alex finds himself in a situation where he has to make all the decisions and he struggles to decide what is right for his sisters. “His moral and religious upbringing is continually put to the test as he finds himself forced to take action that is often gruesome if not unethical--like "body shopping," to collect objects to barter for food” (Kirkus Review (May 1, 2008).

When the city shuts down and starvation drives citizens to steal and trade items from the dead, Alex finds relief in the rules that govern food dispersal and the viewing of the unidentified dead. “Alex found that rules imposed a structure, and he preferred that. He always did better when he knew exactly what was expected of him” (page 59).

The secondary characters of Uncle Jimmy, Father Mulrooney, Father Franco, and Sister Rita become a network of parent-like figures for Alex and his sisters, yet leave the decision making to Alex.  The setting of New York city affords Alex the luxury of walking to get in the food lines, walking his sisters to school and walking to attend mass at St. Margaret’s even with the power out and the subway flooded, the plot can unfold because of the proximity of living in an apartment building in a urban environment with so many people and resources packed in a small area.

The very religious theme in the book is described from Mami’s rosary beads to Bri and her devotion to God through constant praying. Alex goes through the motions out of routine and guilt, but finds himself struggling with God when he talks to Father Mulrooney saying, “I used to pray and mean the words, but now they’re just words. Because if I let myself feel the pain and the anger, I think it might kill me. Or I might kill someone else” (page 184).

This frightening book plants a seed of “what if” in the reader’s mind.  Pfeffer writes such effective and vivid descriptions of the collapse of a city, that the reader can’t help but fear that this could happen - exactly this way.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Booklist starred 05/15/08

Publishers Weekly starred 05/19/08

Bulletin for the Center for Children’s Books 07/01/08

School Library Journal 08/01/08

Horn Book 10/01/08

Wilson’s Junior High School 01/09/10

New York Times 11/09/08

Wilson’s Senior High School 06/01/10

CONNECTIONS

Anderson, Laurie Halse. 2000. FEVER, 1793. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780689838583

·         Partner this book as another natural disaster survival story with a female protagonist.

Pfeffer, Susan Beth. 2006. LIFE AS WE KNEW IT. Orlando: Harcourt.

ISBN 9780152058265

·         Partner this book in discussing a female viewpoint of the same natural occurrence

Kehret, Peg. 2003. ESCAPING THE GIANT WAVE. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.ISBN 9780689852725

·         Partner this book to explore another teen protagonist responsible for his family’s safety during a natural disaster.