SUMMER SORA SERIES RECOMMENDS ALONE BY MEGAN E. FREEMAN
All Maggie wants is some time alone – and she has a plan to get it. With a few lies about where they are, Maggie and her friends plan a sleepover at her empty grandparents’ house. To say things don’t go as planned is an understatement. Her friends are caught and can’t come. During her secret night hidden alone, her town is evacuated, and Maggie is indeed left alone…totally alone.
This novel, written in verse, is a fantastic middle level survival story. Readers follow Maggie as she slowly accepts that no one is coming back and realizes she is on her own to take care of herself and her neighbor’s dog, George. The slow descent into survival mode is realistic and brings authentic threats such as food, water, weather, fire and wild animals.
Other than the obvious challenges of survival, the conflict of the plot is a steady build of loneliness. Maggie is aware of the hope she is losing and searches for connection in radios and books. The seasons change and the years go by without any indication of this isolation ending. Maddie’s resilience in the environmental and mental struggles is fierce and makes her a strong character for readers to admire. Although I would give a trigger warning for animal abuse, I would recommend this book to readers who like dystopian survival stories as well as someone looking to devour a book in verse.