How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Rosoff, M. (2006). How I Live Now (p. 224). Wendy Lamb Books.

ISBN: 0553376055

Classification:book, fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Age Level: 11th-12th grade

Subjects:body image, coming of age, family, fiction, love story, war

Reader's Annotation: Daisy and her cousins are left alone as a war breaks out and brings danger to their peaceful English countryside.

Summary:
Fifteen year old Daisy leaves Manhattan to get away from her father and pregnant stepmother. She goes to the English countryside to live with her mother's sister and the cousins she's never met. In Manhattan, Daisy starved herself to annoy her parents and to feel in control. With her cousins, she feels part of a family in a way she's never experienced. She also falls in love with her cousin Edmund, and he falls in love with her. Then a war breaks out while Daisy's aunt is in Oslo on a peacekeeping mission. The children are left alone to fend for themselves, stuck between two armies and with limited resources. Things only really get bad when the family is separated, and Daisy must somehow manage to protect her young cousin Piper and get her back to the rest of their loved ones.

Reviews / Awards:

Observer Review
How I Live Now is a Printz Award Winner

Author Info:
Meg Rosoff's website

Potential Hotspots:

violence, war, young cousins in a romantic relationship, terrorism

Readalikes:

• the dead and the gone by Susan Beth Pffefer
  
• Madapple by Christina Meldrum
  

Why it belongs in a YA collection:
Some reviewers say this is a good book for readers 12 and up, others label it an "adult crossover." Daisy is at the young end of what older teens would like to see in their protagonists, at 15, but she's a mature 15 on page one of this story. The violence in this story is mainly kept at a distance, but there are a few shocking scenes, more appropriate for older teens. I also think the relationships Daisy has with most of the other characters would be best understood by older teen readers.

Other:

This book trailer, made by student filmmakers, won the 2006 Teen Book Video Award:

Evaluation:

5 stars