(4) YA In a well-protected enclave, Jon is shielded from the worst environmental effects that resulted when the moon was knocked out of place a few years (and three Life As We Knew It books) ago. Pfeffer does justice to each recurring complex character, though a lack of satisfactory explanation for the existing power dynamics mar this intriguing revisit to the world gone permanently awry.

Reviewer: April Spisak

(3) YA After her estranged father brutally kills his new family, sixteen-year-old Willa, her mom, and her happy stepfamily are thrown into turmoil. The once-normal family dynamic is further tested when Willa returns to her Texas hometown for memorial services with long-forgotten family. Pfeffer's tense prose is well paced, and Willa's brave confronting of secrets in her history--and present life--is stirring.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) YA The final installment in Pfeffer's dystopian trilogy (following Life As We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone) about how an asteroid-strike on the moon devastates Earth brings Alex, from the second book, to teen narrator Miranda's house. As usual, Pfeffer skillfully builds tension while showing how characters survive--or don't--in a world of dwindling resources.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(4) YA Pfeffer's stellar Life As We Knew It followed the increasingly bleak subsistence of a girl in suburban Pennsylvania after an asteroid knocked the moon out of orbit. This not-as-satisfying companion tracks the aftermath of the same disaster for too-good-to-be-true Alex and his sisters in post-asteroid New York City. In terms of characterization and plot, this book is less affecting than the first volume.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(2) YA In this taut survival story, an asteroid hits the moon, knocking it closer toward Earth, which results in cataclysmic natural disasters. Sixteen-year-old Miranda's journal entries provide a riveting account of how lack of information and resources, and, subsequently, loss of hope for the future shrink her world. Against mounting dismal conditions, her family's drawing together to find meaning in their altered lives is all the more triumphant.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2006

(2) YA This heart-wrenching story follows thirteen-year-old Michael's family after he disappears without a trace one day. Pfeffer adroitly sustains the tension by focusing on the details of the family dynamics as the unit gradually breaks apart under the strain.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc. | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 1988

(4) 4-6 Portraits of Little Women series. While a prologue and epilogue suggest the fictional Jo March has written these tales, the stories have the same style and tone as the series' previous books. Meg and Beth meet friendly specters, while Jo faces a malevolent force that is dispatched with a splash of water. In the least successful story, Amy's apparition seems to be a manifestation of her own greed. The characterizations are flat, but readers may enjoy the ghostly plots.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 4-6 Pfeffer gives background information about the people and animals that inspired a dozen literary characters, including Mother Goose, Peter Rabbit, and Misty of Chincoteague. The biographical information and connections between character and subject are sometimes sketchy, but readers will take pleasure in learning more about their favorite fictional friends. Black-and-white photos accompany each essay. Bib.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 4-6 Portraits of Little Women series. These two original stories, bound in small volumes with ribbon bookmarks, describe the dilemmas faced by the young March sisters--shy Beth and genteel Meg--when each is ten years old. Although the stories remain true to Alcott's characterization of the sisters, the stilted prose lacks the charm and depth of the classic novel. A recipe and craft are included in each book.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) 4-6 Portraits of Little Women series. These two original stories, bound in small volumes with ribbon bookmarks, describe the dilemmas faced by the young March sisters--shy Beth and genteel Meg--when each is ten years old. Although the stories remain true to Alcott's characterization of the sisters, the stilted prose lacks the charm and depth of the classic novel. A recipe and craft are included in each book.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.