We hear about all these natural disasters second-hand through Miranda’s diary entries, but hearing about them like this doesn’t make them any less impactful.

And then, perhaps most terrifyingly, are the volcanos. Entire cities and coastlines are wiped out. Giant thunderstorms bring floods and power outages. After the asteroid hits the moon, life as Miranda knows it is altered completely. And that’s not because the book is particularly horrific–it isn’t–but it is so plausible that it’s hard not to feel like this kind of scenario could actually happen in the real world. It’s deeply, deeply unsettling–one of the most psychologically disturbing stories I’ve ever read. I vividly remember reading Life As We Knew It when I was thirteen, and as I reread it, I understood why I had such a visceral reaction to the book. That’s when Miranda’s life changes, entering a “new normal” that is all too terrifying and all too real. And then, one night, a giant asteroid hits the moon, pushing it closer to Earth. She goes to school, hangs out with her friends, and follows her favorite figure skater through online forums. Life As We Knew It is told in diary entries written by our main character, sixteen-yea r-old Miranda, as she goes about her daily life. It took me two days to get through it, and let me tell you, dear readers, Life As We Knew It has more than held up. Now, years later, I’ve decided to reread the book for the first time since then. I was thirteen at the time and I had no idea what I was getting myself later. Initially, I’d read the book way back in 2007. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer is one of those books I’ve thought about rereading for a long time.

Life as we knew it book 2