Week 3: Did the Apocalypse Come and No One Told Me?

Title: Everything You Need to Know to Survive the Apocalypse
Author: Lucas Klauss
ISBN: 978144243886
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Copyright Year: 2012
Reading Level:
Themes: religion, faith, romance, comedy, high school, humor, church, soul-searching, parent death, parent/ child relations, coming of age
Awards: None that I could find

Thumbs up or down?: Thumbs Up

Book Trailer:





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My Summary: This is a coming of age story that follows a young teen named Phillip as he is growing up and dealing with the dramas of life. High school is hard enough but Phillip is dealing with the loss of his mother while dealing with his atheist father. Not only is his home life difficult but at school his coach for the cross country team is riding him hard and he ends up being asked out by the girl of his dreams. Little does Phillip know that he has been asked to a church youth group activity. This book shows the struggles of a young adult dealing with faith, romance, a home life and school life.

My Review: I enjoyed this book and thought the dialog was well written. Though I originally chose this book because I thought it would be nestled among the zombie genre that seems to be popular right now I found that the book wasn't really about the apocalypse at all but about the journey of a young man and his struggles with life. I thought the author did an excellent job of intertwining humor in with a religious turmoil experienced by a boy. The book resonated a great deal with me as I know at that age I questioned my faith in God and I had a hard time with it. I think the book gives a unique perspective and offers a slice of life about how Phillip deals with his faith. I found the characters to be well developed and that they had good measures of reality to them. Overall a fun read with some serious overtones due to religion.