I've learned from experience that when I go into Devaney, Doak and Garrett in downtown Farmington, I need to read what the owner tells me to read. Last year, this man told me about Hunger Games, which turned out to be my favorite book of the year. Last week, I went into the store to place an order for my classroom and walked out with perhaps my favorite book of this year.
It's called Gone and it's written by Michael Grant. Gone is the story of a town called Perdido Beach. The story starts out normally, with students in a classroom who are bored by their teacher's lesson. Then, all of a sudden, everyone over the age of fifteen disappears. Everyone.
This story is full of interesting characters, evil and good deeds, and interesting questions about what would happen to children and teens if adults suddenly vanished. The characters start to develop abilities like those in the television series Heroes and some start acting like the characters found in Lord of the Flies.
This book is a bit on the long side at over 550 pages, but I found myself rushing back to DDG at the end of the story so that the owner could sell me the second book in the series. The next one is called Hunger and I truly cannot wait to see what happens! If you're interested in this title, it can be found on the free reading shelf at the back of the room.
Here's the book trailer for this title:
