SmartGirl Editor Becca reviews:
Gone
A novel by Michael Grant

It happens in the middle of math class. One minute Sam is sitting there, and the next minute his teacher just vanishes. There's no warning beforehand and no explanation of what happened afterwards. The only thing Sam knows is that everyone over the age of thirteen has disappeared and everyone thirteen and younger has been left to fend for themselves.

Welcome to Gone, a novel by author Michael Grant, in which the kids of Perdido Beach find themselves alone and cut off from the rest of the world. Their phones don't work, their Internet is down, and there's some sort of strange barrier that's keeping them from escaping their town to find help. At first they think it has to be a temporary situation - their parents will come back for them soon, right? - but as time goes on, it becomes more and more apparent that they have to find a way to survive on their own. That sounds tough enough. Then throw in a rivalry between the strange kids from Coates Academy and the kids who go to school in town, a charming but evil boy named Caine who seems intent on taking over Perdido Beach and who doesn't care who gets hurt in the process, and the fact that some people are suddenly developing super human powers, and that sounds a little more accurate. Oh, and don't forget the budding romance between Sam and Astrid, the school's resident genius, or the fact that everyone is looking to him to find both a way out and way to save them from Caine. Add in Sam's impending fourteenth birthday (it's less than a week away!) and the minute when he too will vanish, and you've got one fast-paced, gripping novel.

Gone is a long book (576 pages) but it's not hard to read, and it certainly kept my attention all the way through. There are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you glued to it. Just when you think the book can't get any weirder, it does! The characters are memorable and easy to relate to. Take Sam, for instance. With everything going on, he's under a lot of pressure and he has a lot to do, but that doesn't stop him from getting nervous when Astrid is around and wanting to kiss her. It's interesting how Grant has created this world for these kids with all these crazy problems but he still doesn't forget that they are thirteen, and they have crushes and they get nervous around their crushes like someone normally would.

Even though the oldest characters in the book aren't even fourteen yet, I think anyone older than that would still enjoy it. In fact, I might even recommend this for older readers. Beyond its length, the book contains some violence that might disturb someone a little younger, so just be warned in case you pick it up. Otherwise, Gone is a summer must-read, especially if you like thrillers and don't mind an ending that leaves you hanging - it's the first of a six book series!

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