A New Life

Life As We Knew It

By: Susan Beth Pfeffer

Miranda is a young girl who has a very normal life. Even though she is not so popular, she has friends and a loving family but her whole life is about to change when a meteorite hits the moon making it come closer to the Earth.

After the big collusion, there were no big effects but after a few weeks there was a lack of food and resources. 

Miranda went to school every day, things hadn't changed that much, she still had to give exams and test; she had to turn in assignments and work. But she was worried all the time, she couldn't think about anything but the moon.

School was coming to an end; they wouldn't have final exams because the school board wanted it to end before. The last day of school, and the beginning of summer, the only food left the school had was peanut butter and jelly, not bread, not anything else. Just peanut butter and jelly.

Miranda felt hungrier as days passed but she couldn't complain because compared to what other kids had to eat, she was eating a normal amount.

Until now this has been a very interesting book. I not only fount the topic to be really interesting, but the whole story and how it makes you question life and its meaning.

“I begged for God’s forgiveness,” she said. “And if I were you, Miranda, I’d ask for divine forgiveness, also”. “God doesn’t want you to starve to death,” she said. “Honestly, Miranda, you’re making an awfully big deal over half a sandwich” (Pfeffer, 65).

This is how I pictured Miranda and
 Megan while they fought about God's ideas... 

While I was reading this, I thought about how Miranda and Megan fought about what God’s ideas are a connected to my past knowledge because I have seen and heard, in news, that religion is one of the most sensitive topics to talk about and that, just like Miranda, you can get in a lot of trouble for giving your opinion on it. I have seen lots of relationships end up because of disagreements on religious ideas and customs that not everyone agrees on, or follows. One of them is God’s ideology such as helping others but still carrying about yourself, just like in the book. I believe that as long we treat each other’s ideas, religion, or any other topic, should influence on relationships. 

Another thing that I was thinking about while reading this few chapters, was that our nature makes us rely on company in order to feel safe. I couldn’t help to think about how we depend on others to stay calm under difficult circumstances.

“Things seem much better now that Matt is home. He’s been throwing batting practice to Jonny (I’ve been catching) and that seems to make Jonny happy” (Pfeffer, 55).

What I found curious about this quote was that we all have done that when, in order to feel safe we have to be near someone that is always happy and makes us feel like if we were under control and relaxed. I think that, that is the best feeling and that those types of people are a big part in life. 

Overall, this seems like a really interesting book and I really look forward to keep on reading. Until now, this book has made me realize that we have to appreciate our time in t earth because who knows, maybe tomorrow it will end or it will drastically change making our lives have a total new meaning.