Night of the Purple Moon

Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer

(Summary taken from the back book cover) "Space germs wipe out virtually everyone who has passed through puberty....For months, astronomers have been predicting that Earth will pass through the tail of a comet. They say that people will see colorful sunsets and, best of all, a purple moon. But nobody predicted the lightning-fast epidemic that sweeps across the planet on the night of the purple moon. The comet brings space dust with it that contains germs that attack human hormones. Older teens and adults die within hours of exposure. On a small island off the coast of Maine, a group of teens and children struggle to survive in this new world, but all the while they have inside them a ticking time bomb--adolescence."

Just thinking about this actually happening freaks me out. Can you imagine? I can't imagine my ten-year-old having to take care of his siblings and fight for their survival. Crazy. I liked this book. It is an interesting and different concept, which is good, and it definitely gets your attention. I felt so bad for these children and wished I could help them. Mr. Cramer's character development is really good, and I felt like these kids lived in my neighborhood, like I have always known them. I can't imagine having to bury my friends like they did. They took it surprisingly well and did a pretty good job of keeping life as normal as possible. I liked how each of the kids kind of ended up with a specialty, just like adults do. The book is well written and flows well. The story is captivating and draws you in. It's a fast, easy read.

I didn't like the language in the book. I like to live in my dream world and think that children ages 14 and younger shouldn't use bad language. One of the worst offenders was an old man at the very beginning, and I was disappointed. This book is about children this age, and yet, I am not going to allow my ten-year-old to read it. Mr. Cramer took a book that could have been great for the late elementary school readers as well as the early junior high kids, and made it inaccessible to them because of some language.  It wasn't filled with language, but enough that I'm uncomfortable recommending it for elementary age kids. It also ended quite abruptly, and left me hanging, but it is a trilogy, so what do you expect? Of course I'll need to read the next one because I have to see what happens to these cute kids!

I liked it, though, and would recommend it with the previous warning.

Rating: PG-13 (Language)

Recommendation: 14-15 years and up. As usual, parents should read it first to judge for their children.

Disclosure: I did receive a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.