A Matter of Days

by Amber Kizer

Summary:
What if a virus mutated so that it was immune to all known cures? What if it was engineered to wipe out most of the population? It could happen. And it's what happened. It's now 56 days since the virus known as Blue Star was unleashed, and it's killed most of the population. Nadia and her brother were protected by a shot given to them by their uncle, one of the military's top doctors, before the virus hit but now are alone and must make their way across the country to their grandfather's compound. Not knowing if he's alive, and forced to avoid the gangs of people who survived, they must try to survive and figure out who to trust.

Review:
While there is a lot of post-apocalyptic type novels out there, Kizer's does stand out. Nadia and Rabbit are resourceful, but they get a lot of their knowledge about how to survive from previous lessons from their KIA military commando father and from books, which makes it more realistic.  They are smart kids who have to use their instincts on who to trust, and while they do have a bit of luck following them, generally the book is pretty believable. It's a good read for those who like disaster fiction, and will drive more than one teen to a book on survival preparedness.

Genre: Disaster Fiction
Age Level: 8th Grade