Armageddon Summer

Do you have that certain book you always check out from the library and re-read, just because it feels like an old friend, and you can't get enough of it? That's Armageddon Summer for me. This book follows the lives of two very different kids. Marina Marlow is a homeschooled girl who loves Emily Dickenson poems. Recently, her mom has decided to follow the beliefs of Reverend Beelson- and he says that the world will end on July twenty-seventh- and it will do so in fire. How convenient- right when Marina turns fourteen! Her mother drags Marina and her five brothers up to the mountain- the only place where God will spare people- and leave her dad to be "Fried". Marina is torn, and doesn't know what to believe. Sixteen year old Jed is dragged up on the mountain too, but not by his mother. His mom ran off with a photographer to live in the mountains in Colorado, and he's stuck with his weepy dad, who turned to religion to cope with the devastating break up. He doesn't believe any of this crap, and has smuggled in a computer- which is against the rules. This book details the experiences in each of their perspectives, and eventually they both notice each other. As the book progresses, they begin to know each other better. Armageddon Summer is five stars for me- you should read it too!

Novels written in the first person aren't very common; good novels written in the first person are even less so. This YA book is narrated by its main characters, Marina and Jed, who meet each other at a mountaintop encampment to await the end of the world. This style allows the authors to develop them into deep, likeable characters (and it takes a while to do so). Realistic settings are vividly described and neatly merged with actual places. After Marina and Jed tell this story, you might be tempted to search for the (fictional) events in old newspapers! Yes, this is a love story, but it's not junior chick-lit. It's an adventure, too. After about the middle of the book, the plot tightens. Although the climax occurs shy of the end, what comes after salvages hope from the ashes of the "armageddon." The coauthors have done a fine job presenting the religious aspects of this story in a very non-judgmental and inoffensive way. It does not appear they are pushing a particular view--something to consider when choosing a young adult novel. Most anyone with a young heart will enjoy ARMAGEDDON SUMMER. -Mike Kelley, Author of "Violent Night"

This time the world will end in fire on July 27, 2000. That is what Reverend Raymond Beelson has told his 2 congregations of the Church of Believers. Reverend Beelson makes plans for 144, a number from scripture, Believers to escape the fire and brimstone destruction of the world. The Believers are led atop Mount Weeupcut in Massachusetts where they live by camping, pray and wait for the day of Armageddon. The days leading up to July 27 are shared with us through the alternating view point of Jed and Marina, who have never met before and came to the fortified mountain because of their families. However, the two teenagers find something compelling about each other as they struggle to find out what is going on in their lives. Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville have skillfully developed the characters of Jed and Marina in this novel. Read this book that explores the nature of faith, the dangers of cults, and relationships that are formed by friendship and love to see how Jed and Marina survive Armageddon Summer.

The topic of religious/millennial cults is a sensitive one. In the hands of less gifted writers, there would be a dangerous tendency toward the maudlin and the strident; and while this would be disaster enough in an adult audience novel, it would truly be unforgiveable in a book aimed at young adults. Not a problem at all here though; authors Yolen and Coville know exactly what they are doing and how to precisely say what needs saying without the least overstatement or soggy sentiment. As one who teaches composition, I marvel at these two and their ability to always find just the right word, phrase, sentence or paragraph; this novel would serve well as a model of precise and concise writing. And what a grand story! Two typical, but oh-so-slightly outre teens find each other and incipient romance while waiting for the end of the world on a mountaintop in Massachusetts. The characterization is superb as always with Yolen and Colville. Ms. Yolen familiarly exercises her virtuoso range from picture books like the powerful SKY DOGS to the enchanted witchery of BRIAR ROSE to the witty fun of WIZARD HALL and so much inbetween; while Mr. Coville here tries his hand (entirely successfully) at a slightly older audience than his usual, but so very exquisite MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN and JEREMY THATCHER, DRAGON HATCHER (this writer's favorite!). This present book combines their celestial talents sublimely. While fans of both will not be disappointed here, this engrossing page-turner has so much to offer not only young adults, but their longing-for-a good-read parental units as well. Yolen and Coville: More please!

This story is about a girl, Martina, and a boy, Jed, whose parents pulled them up onto a mountain to await the end of the world coming, namely Armageddon. They meet and fall in love. Then they think, great, the first time we fall in love in our lives and the world is coming to an end. This is an excellent adventure book and I would recommend it for teachers, parents, and the 8th through the 10 grades.