***Please note that this is a secular title.
Gone by Michael Grant
***Please note that this is a secular title.
I really enjoyed this young adult book entitled Gone. It was fast-paced, suspenseful and the characters really drew you into the story. Gone is about a group of kids in a small town who are forced to live on their own. Everybody over the age of fourteen disappers, literally. So now you have everybody from infants to fourteen years old forced to fend for themselves. These children can’t leave their town, they’re stuck there because of the FAYZ, which is a huge bubble that surrounds their beach town.
As is obvious, you’re going to have conflict – somebody wants to be the leader, somebody wants to make peace. Sam Temple doesn’t want to be a hero, but finds himself forced into that role a number of times. During the course of the story, he helps others, wanting to make everything alright. There’s also a little bit of romance between Sam and Astrid (another major character in this novel). Both of these kids are fourteen and Sam is worried. When he turns fifteen, will he disappear, too?
Astrid has an autistic little brother named Pete, and Pete adds an interesting twist to the story.
Many of these kids also have powers, powers that were slowly being developed shortly before they were trapped by the FAZE. Caine, an evil child, wants to do away with all of the powerful children so that he can be the leader, using his powers.
Also, the FAZE world shifts and changes – animals start to talk, and become more aggressive. These animals also develop unusual powers of their own.
You have a lot of drama and fighting and conflict within the FAZE with the two groups of children: Sam’s group and Caine’s group. There’s also some interesting background about Sam and Caine that propelled the story.
This book had some of the children taking on certain roles and jobs since the adults were no longer present. One child takes it upon himself to run the McDonald’s alone. Another child runs the daycare since you need somebody to change diapers and feed and enterain children since all of the parents were gone.
Also, I thought it was cool how the kids were trying to figure out why they were trapped in the FAZE. They often spoke about God, and you do see some of the characters praying while they battle against other forces.
This novel reminded me of two Christian fiction series: 1. Terri Blackstock’s series where all the electronics and electricity stops working.
2. The Left Behind Series
This book also reminded me of the classic Lord of the Flies. You have these kids pitting against one another as they struggle to survive.
Although this book is enjoyable, I did think that the writing and the dialog was kind of corny in some places, but, the story is so good that you still want to finish the book to find out what happens to these kids.
GONE is the first book in a series. I do have HUNGER, the second book, in my to-be-read pile.