ANNOTATION

To get away from her pregnant stepmother in New York City, fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to England to stay with her aunt and cousins, with whom she instantly bonds, but soon war breaks out and rips apart the family while devastating the land.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"EVERY WAR HAS turning points and every person too."

Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she's never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.

As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it's a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy's uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.

A riveting and astonishing story.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In our Best Books citation, PW said, "This riveting first novel paints a frighteningly realistic picture of a world war breaking out in the 21st century." Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Lynn O'Connell

What would a Third World War be like? What would you do? These are questions explored in this modern-day story, told in first-person by 15-year-old Daisy. A New Yorker all her life, Daisy is sent to live in England by her father and pregnant stepmother. There, she grows to adore her deceased mother's sister, Aunt Penn, and her four cousins—Osbert, 16; Isaac and Edmond, 14-year-old twins; and Piper, 9. While Aunt Penn is out of the country on a peace mission, England is invaded. Initially, the children continue on with their lives. The only big change is the sexual relationship that develops between Edmond and Daisy. Then, soldiers take over the farm and split up the children—sending the girls one way and the boys the other. Daisy is determined to keep Piper alive and, during this struggle, we see Daisy change from a self-centered teen to a survivor. The book ends with a thought-provoking, but hopeful, epilogue that takes place six years later. Basically, the book provides a realistic picture of what life would be like if a world war broke out today, and it provides a lot of material for class discussion. The relationship between Edmond and Daisy is not explicit, and it is described in an emotional rather than physical way. The book also deals with Daisy's eating disorder. 2004, Wendy Lamb Books/Random House Children's Books, Ages 12 up.

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Daisy, 15, a troubled New York City teen with a distant father, a wicked (and pregnant) stepmother, and an eating disorder, is sent to England to stay on a rambling farm with her deceased mother's sister's family. It is made up of Aunt Penn "who always has Important Work To Do Related to the Peace Process" and her brood of children: Osbert, 16; 14-year-old twins Isaac and Edmond; and 9-year-old Piper. As the kids spend more and more time together, Daisy warms to them, beginning to tune in to a seemingly psychic bond that the siblings share. When Aunt Penn travels to Oslo, Daisy begins a sexual relationship with Edmond. At the same time, hostile forces invade England. Originally enjoying the freedom of a world that seems to have forgotten them, the cousins are inevitably separated, leaving Piper and Daisy to struggle across the countryside and rejoin the others. Daisy's voice is uneven, being at times teenage vapid, while elsewhere sporting a vocabulary rich with 50-cent words, phrases, and references. In addition, Rosoff barely scratches the surface of the material at hand. At times, this is both intentional and effective (the enemy is never named) but for the most part the dearth of explanation creates insurmountable questions around the basic mechanisms of the plot. There is no explanation of how a small force could take out all communications (including cell phones) and proceed to overrun and to control an entire country. Perhaps even stranger, the ramifications of psychic abilities and underage sexual relationships between first cousins is never addressed.-Douglas P. Davey, Halton Hills Public Libraries, Ontario, Canada Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Manhattanite Daisy, 15, moves to London to stay with an aunt and cousins she's never met. Without preamble or fanfare, an unidentified enemy attacks and war ensues. Her aunt is abroad on a peace mission, meaning that Daisy and her three cousins, with whom she forges a remarkable relationship, must survive almost entirely on their own. This is a very relatable contemporary story, told in honest, raw first-person and filled with humor, love, pathos, and carnage. War, as it will, changes these young people irrevocably, not necessarily for the worse. They and readers know that no one will ever be the same. The story of Daisy and her three exceptional cousins, one of whom becomes her first lover, offers a keen perspective on human courage and resilience. An epilogue, set six years after the conclusion, while war still lingers, ends Daisy's story on a bittersweet, hopeful note. (Fiction. 12+)