GONE by Michael Grant July 21, 2008
Posted by karinlibrarian in young adult.Tags: apocalyptic, betrayal, bullies, friendship, good v. evil, Science Fiction, series, siblings, young adult
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As a fan of apocalyptic science fiction, I was very excited to read GONE by Michael Grant.
In the blink of an eye, everyone over the age of fourteen disappears. POOF! Teachers in the middle of a lesson, mothers preparing their babies’ bottles, people driving down the road – all just GONE! Panic begins to spread and no one knows what to do. Sam, who proved himself a hero in the past, is automatically given the role of leader in Perdido Beach or the FAYZ as it becomes known.
Sam, together with Astrid, her autistic brother Little Petey, Quinn, and Edilio begin to attempt to piece together what happened. They eventually discover a transparent barrier surrounding the area and the power plant at its center. The barrier forms a ten mile radius around the plant. It is painful to the touch and there don’t appear to be any openings.
On top of being forced to care for themselves, Sam and the others must make sure that the young children are cared for. Several people take up the task of caring for the babies and toddlers at the day care. One young man even inventories stock and continues to run the local McDonalds so people can come in for something to eat. Everyone is nervous, but things seem to be under control – until the kids from Coates Academy show up.
Coates Academy is the prestigious boarding school up the hill from Perdido Beach. The Coates Academy leader is Caine and he makes it very clear that he intends to take charge of the town. Things start to take a turn for the worse shortly after Caine takes charge. Bullies are the ones running the town and many don’t feel safe.
Three other things are causing everyone to feel scared:
1) Some of the kids are gaining powers. Some can heal wounds, others can move things around with their mind, and some develop super speed.
2) Animals are mutating. There are seagulls with talons, coyotes that can talk, and cats that can teleport from place to place.
3) Once you hit your fifteenth birthday (exactly to the minute you were born) you POOF!
It’s a frightening world. Bullies against the weak; Rich kids against the townies. Lines are drawn and sides are chosen and everyone prepares for battle. If you enjoy science fiction or liked LORD OF THE FLIES , this is a book for you. Don’t let the length scare you off because it is definately worth the read. My only complaint is the ending. It leaves you with many unanswered questions. Nothing was really solved. Michael Grant has said that he plans this to be a six book series and is finishing up book #2 now. He intends for a book to be released every summer until the series is complete.
Now this is why I’m glad I found the book blog-a-sphere, coming across intriguing books like this I’d never normally hear about. This is one for the ole’ bookmooch wishlist I feel…
Thanks for the great review.
Ugh – I get mad at books that are first in a series when I didn’t realize it. I don’t want to read series books… Too many books already in the tbr to start committing to a series.
This is a great series, and I can’t wait for the sequel. But a whole year from now? That kind of stinks. Still, I’m happy to finally know when it’s coming.
I just finished it…great book. I’m pumped about the sequel!
This book was amazing!!! but i really think we need to try and get Mr. Grant to release the next book sooner i dont know if i can wait till next summer! if anyone agrees with me email me and we should see if we can convince him not to keep us waiting my email is runnerridge010@yahoo.com
Great Book. kind of slow start and a bit lengthy but the plot and characters are excellent. I didnt know it was a series and was extremely disappointed that nothing was solved. but good to know that there’s a sequel on the way! I love this book.
Gone by Micheal Grant was an amazing tale. I would recommend anyone read this. I enjoyed so much that i am currently re-reading the book. It sends us on an emotional thrill ride for a while but ends in a very sluggish attempt to keep us wondering, he could have ended it better. Over all a great read!
I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK!!!!!!!!!!! it was amazing! my fav book was originally eragon /eldest. it was so intense and i fell in love with Sam my favorite character. drake melwin is sooooo evil the song ”animal i have become” by three days grace is like his theme song to me. don’t let the length scare you, it’s so worth it. i cant wait for the sequel!!!
Omg! I loved the book. I just finished it about five minutes ago. I can’t wait until the next book comes out! I love reading series it just keeps getting better and better!
I love this book!!!! and for some reason i love Drakes character. he is a character who i think has a different back story. I dont think the book ever says why he was sent to Coates. correct me if i am wrong. i hope Mr. Grant doesnt kill off Drake because what fun is a series like this without a sick evil person? Of course you still got Caine and Diana, but Drake , like they said in the book, is just sick. And i am about to go to the store because i think it was made into a movie. I am po’ed that i have to wait till next summer. GRR!!!!!!!!! But i love Sam!!!!! He is such a hawtie in my mind, i love this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Omgsh! I Saw This Book In Barnes And Nobles And I’m Like “Dad, Get Me This Book For Christmas, It Looks Good” Holy Cow! It’s Amazing! I Love It! I Can’t Wait For The Next One To Come Out!!! I Finished It In Like Two days!!! I LOVE IT!! The Ending Was Okay, It Could Have Been Ending Better..But It Still Left Me Wanting To Read More!! Ahhh!! So Excited For The Next One..But Next Summer? Urg, Come On! Lol. I Love Sam, He’s My Fav. Character. I Wish He Would Have Just Made The Whole Book In Sams Point Of View..Or Maybe Sams And Caines Point Of View..It Kinda Bothered Me How He Kept Swtiching Veiws..
Can’t Wait Till The Next Book!
~BookWorm Megan : )
[...] be a strong point. The new characters that are introduced add to the plot, but our favorites from GONE continue to play a large role in the story. HUNGER is the second book in a six-part series. [...]
I absolutely adored this book, I barely put it down. I finished it in less then a day! Im super excited to read the next book, the conclusion confused me, I figured there had to be another book, so I’m really excited to hear that there is!
I loved loved loved this book. I couldnt put it down even to finish my history project (which i ended up having to pull an all nighter to finish after i finished the book). I love the charcter of Sam, and plus, he sounds hot(: well, atleast he is on the cover. I hope this series is made into a movie if it hasnt already been. I think it would be a really intresting movie, if its half as great as the book. I cant wait for the next book, “Hunger”. This is my second favorite series so far, Twilight series was my favorite. but this is really close and that says something. I would definatly say you should read this book(:
[...] CHILDREN would be a good suggestion for someone who enjoyed GONE by Michael Grant. There are many similarities. GONE is just categorized as a fantasy and [...]
Hey andi, Drake was sent to coates for shooting a kid in the leg.
Haha this book as awesome! i wasn’t sure when i finished it at first if there was going to be a sequel (i know there were a lot of questions unanswered, but sometimes stories are open-ended like The Lady or The Tiger) and i was so excited to hear that there’s not only going to be a sequel, but an entire six parts! i’m so psyched now! i wish i didn’t have to wait as long, but in a way, i’m glad that we do, if it takes that long, it’s gotta be good.
I read this book for an independent reading project. I absolutly LOVED it!!!!! I finished it in I tihnk three days! I have been telling all my friends to read it and I also love that my name is a character(Lana the one who heals wounds) I finished it at 11 one night and when i got to the ending i was about ready to chuck the book at the wall!!!!!i REALLY wanted to know what happened!!!! It was to late to look up Micheal Grant and see if any of the other books where out so i waited until the next morning. I was estatic to see that it is going to be a six book series!!!! The next book HUNGER comes out June 1st!!!! If i remember correctly!!!! I can’t wait!!!!!
I also think it would be a great movie!!!!Its my second favorite series right after Harry Potter. WAY WAY WAY BETTER THAN TWLIGHT!!!
twlights like sixth on my list. & i also wasn’t sure if it would be like the Lady or the Tiger…we just read that in LA class lol
I think that it’s cool that your name Lana! I loved this book!!!!!!!!!!!! Once I get it back from a friend it is going on my favorite book list!!!
Wow. I’m still reading this book I’m almost finished but I don’t want it to finish yet it has gone so quick!!! Sam is the best character and I think him and astrid are cuuuuute. I’m from Australia and gone has only just recently come out here I hope it doesn’t mean I have to wait a whole other year. That’s not really fair.
Im in love with gone and hunger cant wait for the rest of the series to come.I finished both hunger and gone in like a day each.did you know theres like …5 or 6 other books to come out of that series!
toodles!
Gone was so good can’t wait to read hunger
What is the name of the guy on the cover? I know it’s suppose to be sam, but what is his real name?
O Goodness:) I really REALLY enjoyed this book! it was addicting right from the start for me, the very first page! to say the least, I way super super excited that not only is there Hunger, (which i havent read yet) but other books in the series too!! the characters were great and everything fit together i thought. Just unique enough;))
LIES comes out May 4, 2010. WOO HOO!!!
i just got done with it a few minutes ago and i was looking online where to read the sequle fro free and found this site! The begining scared me a bit because sam’s life was alot like mine is. I never knew my real dad my step one is a pain and i live in a bad negborhood. And alot of the things sam did i would have done the same thing! And i know this girl that i like ALOT and her nephew is atistic and it was just really freaky. I loved it. I found you can goto thefayz.com and folow a few links to read #2!