The Survivors by Will Weaver

The Survivors by Will Weaver is a sequel to The Memory Boy. My major dilemma as a reader of this realistic fiction piece was that Will Weaver wrote it in 2012 yet set the story in 2008. The entire premise of the story rests upon a world forever changed due to an environmental disaster—volcanic eruption-- that has caused the climate to change. As readers deeply enter into a story, we have to be able to suspend our disbelief and enter into the world created for us in the book. My personal problem was how to enter into the story when I lived through 2008 and this environmental disaster never took place.

Given that problem with the setting of the novel, I can’t give it a stellar rating. Here is what I can say about the title.

It is about a family from Minneapolis, Minnesota who find themselves thrust back to living off the grid in a shack previously owned by a Mr. Kurz. Since the family can’t live in their plush suburban home due to the lack of electricity, heat, food sources, etc., they are forced to survive through nature by hunting and trapping. Miles, the teenage son, is the source of knowledge for the family. He has Mr. Kurz’s journals that tell how to live off the land. He met Mr. Kurz when he volunteered in a nursing home. Sarah, Miles’ younger sister, clearly has the most attitude adjustment to make in regards to their predicament. Their parents, Nat and Artie, clearly find it difficult to make the changes that will help them all survive the bitter winter.

I think students might enjoy the book more than I did as they will probably not be as bothered by the flaw of setting this novel in 2008 when everyone knows no volcanic disaster occurred.