Ashes

by:  Ilsa Bick

published by:  Egmont USA

publish date:  September 6, 2011

It could happen tomorrow...

A cataclysmic event. An army of "The Changed."

Can one teen really survive on her own?

An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky, destroying every electronic device and killing billions. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human...

Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the Changed, Alex meets up with Tom---a young army veteran---and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse.

This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to survive.

I got the opportunity to meet Ilsa Bick at ALA this year and she is a super nice lady.  I got a signed copy of this book so I was a happy girl. 

The book started off great.  I was all into it and it was going strong.  Somewhere about halfway, it just kinda lost it's appeal.  I can't really put my finger on what exactly it was.  About that point Alex loses Tom and Ellie and moves in with a different group of people and I think that's about when I didn't care anymore.

BUT, I made myself pick it back up, and I'm glad I did.  I slogged through the rest of it and the last couple of pages, while a bit confusing made it worthwhile.  The last page made me sit up and drop my jaw and flip the rest of the pages looking for more of the book.  It made me curse YA trilogies/series all over again.  Although, if this was a stand alone book and it just ended the way it did, that would be pretty cool too.