14 & up)Īfter surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself. In this chilling debut, Mullin seamlessly weaves meticulous details about science, geography, agriculture and slaughter into his prose, creating a fully immersive and internally consistent world scarily close to reality. While the pain and suffering Alex witnesses and experiences is visceral, so are the moments of hope and glimpses of human goodness. But any relief is temporary-threats both environmental and human are ever present.

Among the best people that Alex encounters are a girl named Darla and her mother, Mrs.

Traveling to Warren, he's even more vulnerable, both to the elements and to the mercies of the people he encounters. Before he's even left his hometown, Alex encounters looting and other behaviors born from realization of just how finite resources are in emergencies. Alex is characterized by the decisions he makes when confronted with moral dilemmas-dilemmas that have no straightforward, correct answers-resulting in a realistically thoughtful protagonist dealing with complex and horrifying situations. Left home alone for a weekend in Cedar Falls, Iowa, while his family visits relatives in Warren, Ill., 15-year-old Alex Halprin ends up fighting for survival trying to get to them through an America ravaged by the sudden eruption of the supervolcano under Yellowstone Park. 'The pre-Friday world of school, cell phones, and refrigerators dissolved into this post-Friday world of ash, darkness, and hunger.'

Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin