Gone

//Gone// by Michael Grant [|Amazon.com]

Gone is a dystopian novel. It is the first in a series by Michael Grant, who has written many other young adult and middle grades books. Probably his best known works are the Animorphs series, which he co-authored with his wife K. A. Applegate. In Gone, all people aged 14 and up suddenly disappear. The children left behind have to figure out how to surivie in a world on their own. Added to the mystery of the disappearance, there is some kind of barrier surrounding the town and outlying areas where the main characters live, and some of the kids are realizing they have some super-human powers: super strength, super speed, shooting burning light from hands, the ability to heal with touch, etc. As if that weren't enough craziness, there are also some strange mutations happening to the animals and there is some kind of dark entity living in the bottom of a nearby abandoned mine.

As the children start to make sense of their new life, they begin to form two sides, the town kids with Sam as a reluctant leader, and the rich but troubled and power hungry kids from the boarding school up the hill, led by Caine. His name takes on new meaning when you learn he and Sam are actually brothers. And they are nearing their 14th birthday. Will they poof out of existence like the few children before them who have recently turned 14? Will one of them destroy the other before that time?

This promises to be an excellent series. Michael Grant has Stephen King's way of being able to introduce many, seemingly disparate, characters and bringing them all together in fascinating ways. The barrier holding the children in reminds me a lot of Stephen King's The Dome. And since King is one of my favorite authors, it's no wonder I really like Gone so much!

Review by: Mrs. L Moore; Literacy Coach in a Michigan middle school :)