Ashes (2011) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

show spoilers

Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

show spoilers

• Alex: Protagonist. 17 year-old girl from Evanston, IL who has an inoperable brain tumor. Her parents were both killed in a helicopter crash during a snowstorm when she was about 14. She's on her way to Lake Superior to scatter her parents' ashes when she runs into Jack and Ellie. While they are visiting, the EMP hits and she's left to care for Ellie.
• Tom Eden: 20 year-old guy. He is an explosive ordnance disposal expert with the army in Afghanistan. He is currently on leave and has gone on a camping trip with friends and relatives. Seems to be suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Ellie: A young girl whose father was killed in Iraq. Her mother left when she was a baby. She's camping with her grandfather when they meet Alex. After her grandfather dies, she's left with Alex to take care of her. She's only eight years old.
• Jack Cranford: Ellie's grandfather and guardian. He lives in Minneapolis and has a pacemaker.
• Alexandra Bethany: Add a description of this character.
• Mickey Mouse
• Tori
• Esau
• Mina: A Belgian shepherd. Mina worked as a bomb-sniffing dog in Iraq with Danny, Ellie's father. When Danny died, Jack requested Mina to be Ellie's dog.
• Uzi
• Ernst
• Isaac
• Deidre
• Aunt Hannah: Alex's aunt who became her legal guardian after Alex's parents died.
• Dr. Barrett: Alex's oncologist
• Ishmael
• Jim: Tom's team leader in Afghanistan. He is about 25 years old.
• Loretta
• Stan: Tom's forty-something uncle.
• Earl: Jim's dad, who is about sixty-five years old.
• Ghost
• Larry Mathis: A biology teacher who is on a school ecology trip with several students and teachers.
• Marlene
• Diedre Mathis: Larry's teenage daughter
• Popeye
• Mrs. Pierce
• Reverend Yeager: The leader of Rule. He is part of the Council of 5. He is a member of the oldest family therefore he leads the council.
• Danny
• Crowe
• Hank
• Yeager
• Chris Prentiss: One of the Rev's grandsons living in Rule. He is about 19 years old. He lived with an abusive, alcoholic father before the EMP. He did not grow up in Rule, and so does not have the full authority of someone who has clearer bloodlines. He likes Alex.
• Peter: Chris's 24-year-old brother, who also lives in Rule. He is another of the Rev's grandsons. He likes Lena.
• Lena Christina Stoltz
• Jess: The owner of the house occupied by Lena, Sarah, Tori, and Alex. She is an older woman. She wants someone to change the rules of Rule.
• Kincaid: Acting doctor of Rule; one of the Awakened; had Alzheimer's before the EMP
• Marjorie
• Watson
• Kopf
• Blick
• Cain
• Harlan
• Wasser
• Mann
• Lena: one of the Spared; living with Jess and the other girls that were Spared; wants to leave and go back to Oren
• Wald
• Boden
• Sarah
• Dann
• Gott
• Laster
• Schulter
• Greg
• Frau
• Paul
• Messer
• Nathan: works as one of the guards/escorts in Rule
• Feuer
• Klar
• Mund
• Stelle
• Danke
• Luft
• Hals
• Brett: one of the men who rob Alex, Ellie, and Tom
• Ende
• Stirn
• Herz
• Rauch
• Berg
• Fleck
• Himmel
• Knie
• Tod
• Felsen
• Griff
• Menge
• Jacke

Quotes edit see section history

• “At last, something to live for.”

  Tom Eden

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• Fighting tricks you into believing you can change the past, even when the past is dead and gone and all of it ashes,”

  Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers

• Everyone was always so sorry when, really, sorry was just a word you said because it was more polite than whoa, better you than me.

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

• “Hope is saying that I will live one more day, and that is a blessing, too.”

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

• Obeying orders just to obey is the mark of a person who has ceased to think. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing what is right than for doing what is wrong. Don’t fool yourself, Christopher. Peace comes with a price.”

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

• With no sense of smell, your memories dropped like pennies out of a ripped pocket, until the past was ashes and your parents were blanks: nothing more than the holes in Swiss cheese.

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

• Maybe all that she saw and felt was the sensual fullness of memory: that which abided and was nothing but the ghost of a touch, the whisper of a word, the lingering of a scent.

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

• He painted it that way because he’d actually seen it, right after Krakatau.”

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• The Waucamaw: A forest/reserve area in Michigan where people go camping. There is also a ranger station located there. It's supposed to be located in the upper pennisula, but is in fact not a real place, just one made up for the story.
• Waucamaw
• Afghanistan
• Iraq
• Wisconsin
• Canada
• Rule: A small town in Michigan. Also not real city.
• Essen
• Unterschlupf
• Hospiz
• Parka
• Brustkorb
• Schlafsack
• Winchester

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by Shadows.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Ilsa J. Bick (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PZ7.B47234
• Dewey: Fic Bic

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Add a note to help parents select a book for a child.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Teens › Literature & Fiction › Adventure & Thrillers
• Books › Children's Books › Literature › Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror › Spine-Chilling Horror

More Books Like This edit see section history