Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down". The title says says it all- Lucy, Aiden, Del, a plague that has wiped out 99% of the world's population, leaving the rest left alive to fend for themselves. Now, after surviving this and a host of other natural disasters, there is someone hunting Lucy. Can she and the rag tag bunch evade the "Sweepers"? Can they survive, and why are the Sweepers so determined to capture Lucy?Discussion Questions:
With the popularity of The Hunger Games, a world much different than the one we know of is now a genre of books written for teens. Know as "dystopian" books, life on planet Earth is depicted as a "dog eat dog" and "survival of the fittest" is paramount. Did you find this story line to be a believable one?- We all have skills that we don't even know we possess and are there when we need them. As a 16 year old, Lucy lived in the wilds of Central Park on her own for a year after the death of her family. What survival skills do you bring to the table? What are your biggest strengths?
- Can you ever envisage a life on Mother Earth as it is depicted in this book? With dire predictions of global warming,this book is full of tsumanis, earthquakes and things that we have already experienced in the past few years. Do you think that something this drastic could this happen in your lifetime? Are we all leaving a larger carbon footprint that is necessary if "global warming" is to blame?
I rather liked the concept of the "Hunger Games" books when I read them, but I actually found that "Ashes, Ashes" was a much more believable representation of a post-apocalyptic dystopia. It felt more plausible to me (whether that was because the nature of the disaster(s) was more 2012-natural-disaster than post-nuclear-war is debatable), and I quite enjoyed both the plot and the concept.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd be pretty much useless as a survivor in Lucy's world. Being well-read and good with computers don't exactly translate into survival skills very well. I imagine I might be of some help treating the injured, seeing as I'm good with a first-aid kit, but on my own? I wouldn't make it a week without some kind of help.
While I don't think that the world depicted in "Ashes, Ashes" is necessarily an impossible outcome, I also don't think it'll be happening any time soon. Global Warming is a real issue, but not one that I think will kill off 99% of the population in a matter of years.