Book Review: How I Live Now

If you're looking for a quick but thought-provoking read, I highly recommend How I Live Now, a young adult novel by Meg Rosoff.

Set in England during a war in the near future, How I Live Now is the story of 15-year-old Daisy, who has come to live with her cousins in England in order to escape life with her father and stepmother in New York. While the world descends into a nebulous conflict, Daisy finds herself falling in love with her cousin, Edmond. After the cousins are separated, they must do whatever they can to survive in a changed world.

I liked the way Rosoff describes the war. She doesn't spend a lot of time giving details, because Daisy herself doesn't know the details. The war starts with bombings in London, which are eerily like the ones there this past summer. When cell phones and the Internet no longer work, people depend on word of mouth for information. People adjust to life during the occupation, and they learn to deal with deprivation and horrible violence. In some ways, this book made me think of the scenes from New Orleans this past month--how even in a "civilized" country, we are still more vulnerable than we think.

Rosoff does a good job with the British details--the news agents, the network of walking paths, the falling-down old houses. Daisy, who is both abrasive and caring, is an appealing narrator, and her witty sarcasm makes the depressing events easier to bear. I wish the ending had been less abrupt, but I'm willing to forgive the author because I liked the rest of the book so much.