The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer is the second book to be released in the Last Survivors series. This science fiction series tells of the story of an apocalyptic world when an asteroid hits the moon and moves it out of place.

Each book of this series follows a different person’s life, in a different place in the world, during this thrilling series. The Dead and the Gone follows the life of Alex Morales in Manhattan, New York, as he tries to survive with his two younger sisters after their parents go missing during a series a tidal waves. This book includes the themes of family, responsibility, change, and courage and include them throughout Alex’s journey of dealing with unpredictable events.

Any of the four books can be read without previously reading any other books in this series. Since the books follow different people surviving and at different point you can skip over reading some of the series, however this thrilling series will leave you wanting to read more. This book is unlike other apocalyptic series, it shows how survivors cope with this event, not how people got through the apocalyptic event.

January 18, 2010 this book was released under the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publisher. This book is a quick read for those who don’t enjoy long books and it does not drag out in the 320 pages. Like any young adult fiction, this book is aimed towards boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 17 years old. People of these ages seem to really enjoy this book according to Barnes & Noble’s website, which has an average rating of four stars. Once I started reading this book I could not stop, it was so interesting and I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. Publishers Weekly said, “As riveting as Life as We Knew It and even grittier. . . . The powerful images and wrenching tragedies will haunt readers.”