How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Rosoff, M. (2004). How i live now. New York: Random House.
ISBN-10 0553376055
ISBN-13 978-0553376050
194 pgs
Format: Book
Genre: Dystopia
Classification: Fiction
Age level: Young Adult

Reader's annotation
Daisy thinks that life is complicated when her stepmother becomes pregnant, and so she decides to move from New York City to England to go live with relatives. But things take an unexpected turn when war breaks out trapping the family for an extended period.

Summary
Fifteen-year-old Daisy escapes from living with her father and pregnant stepmother in New York City by going to live with her four cousins and Aunt Penn on their sprawling, picturesque farm in the English countryside. Aunt Penn was Daisy's mother's older sister; her mother died during childbirth. Soon after arriving, a London train is bombed and the country is drawn into war and becomes an occupied state. Aunt Penn, who works as a diplomat, is away in Oslo and is unable to get back to the farm. The first few weeks without adults is isolated, free and idyllic but soon the family is split up and Daisy is on the move in the English countryside with her youngest cousin, Piper. As the violence escalates, Piper and Daisy work to find their way back to the farm in an increasingly desperate time as industry and services are shut down. It's never quite clear who the foreign enemy is exactly, but that doesn't effect the themes of the story: survival, search for family and safety. The story is told in a very authentic voice. Many of the sentences run on and on in a rambling, enthusiastic tone and none of the dialog has quotation marks, lending a casual, intimate feel to the novel. It reads almost like a diary, and feels very believable.

Notes
How I Live Now while a thought-provoking and worthwhile read, contains some sensitive subjects. There is a sexual relationship between two cousins aged fifteen and sixteen. There are depictions of violence during wartime, including shootings and a scene of a massacre.

Awards and honors
Michael L. Printz Award, 2005

Also by Meg Rosoff
What I Was