The Collapse of 2031 threw the world into chaos. Now ten years later, sixteen-year-old Molly was lucky with what she had, with the majority of her family living on an island off of Canada where agriculture was the reason they got by. However, when Molly’s mother gets pregnant, her health is a large concern and she needs a doctor to care for her. Molly’s grandfather fits the part, but he lives all the way across the border in the United States. No one else can make the journey, so, with a backpack, some money, and her fiddle, Molly sets off the cross the border. She deals with so much trouble just on the way there, with illegally crossing the border, trying not to do things illegally, and by the time she reaches her grandparents’ home; Grandpa doesn’t want to let her in and doesn’t want to come to the island to save his daughter. It’s up to Molly to convince her grandfather to leave the United States with her.
I really enjoyed this book. Anthony writes with a definite knowledge of the world she set up and creates her characters to fit the roles they play. Molly is a tough and musical girl who doesn’t give up on her journey. She goes through much peril in this future world and messes with the system to get what her family needs, and is probably one of my favorite literary characters. This novel would interest anyone into apocalyptic story telling. It explores another viewpoint of what could possibly happen in the future if things don’t go well. For all we know, maybe something like this could end up happening. That’s the magic in this novel, the underlying idea that maybe it isn’t as far-fetched as you’d think.
- Publisher: The Penguin Group
- Publication Date: May 13, 2010
- Genre: Teen Fiction
- Date of review: 05/16/2010
