In The Age of Miracles, the world is ending just as the life of a young girl is beginning. This coming-of-age story chronicles the parallel disintegrations of the world and the life and family of Julia, a sensitive 12-year-old girl buffeted with the angst of emerging adolescence. As apocalypse looms for the earth and its inhabitants, Julia grapples with the twin challenges of survival and growing up--in this instance much too fast.
The earth has suddenly begun to slow in its rotation. What starts as a minor oddity grows into catastrophe, as the lengthening periods of sunlight and darkness lead to drastic climate changes. As disasters multiply, it becomes clear that humans are living on borrowed time.
Walker constructs a believable alternate reality in which every detail is accounted for, from the food sources of the irrevocably damaged earth to the societal conflicts that inevitably erupt worldwide. Equally realistic is the depiction of people's stubborn clinging to the rituals of ordinary life in the face of bizarre conditions, even certain death. Yet Julia forges a bond with Seth, a classmate, that is stronger than her fear of the future. They represent a moment of brightness in a world where such moments are fast fading, making their relationship deeply poignant for the reader.
The Age of Miracles may be most remarkable for what it does not do: it does not extend any hope. The darkness only increases until at last, we bid goodbye to Julia as she stands clear-eyed on the precipice of the end of all things. --Ilana Teitelbaum
Read more about The Age of Miracles and Karen Thompson Walker in our Maximum Shelf.