In Life As We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer showed us what might happen if the moon was hit by a meteor large enough to knock it off course. As the new orbit brings it closer to Earth, a rash of volcanoes, earthquakes and tornadoes ensues, fouling the air and causing temperatures to plummet. Food becomes scarce. In The Dead and the Gone and This World We Live In, Pfeffer continued her story of people struggling to cope with new and horrific conditions.
Now, in The Shade of the Moon, readers see just how much society has changed. Seventeen-year-old Jon Evans lives with his stepmother and stepbrother in the privileged enclave of Sexton, Tenn. His own mother, along with his sister and her husband, live nearby in the "grubber" town of White Birch. Society has polarized, with clavers reaping all the privileges while grubs scrape by, doing all the labor. When Jon's girlfriend points out how unfair the new system is, Jon is tempted to listen to his newly awakening conscience. But Jon isn't a full-fledged claver: he slipped in on a technicality, and he knows that one careless mistake will see him ousted, bringing irreparable harm to his entire family.
At times, the dialogue seems a bit stilted, but the plot hums along. Pfeffer makes us care about this "cold and sunless world" and the mounting problems its inhabitants face. A page-turning addition to a series that has captivated readers. --Lynn Becker, host of Book Talk, the monthly online discussion of children's books for the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators