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Description edit
Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Essentially, the book details Alex's trek across north-eastern Iowa to Warren, Illinois following a massive volcanic eruption. He confronts volcanic ash clouds, storms, cannibals, inmates, and average people coping with the aftermath of the disaster.
Characters edit
- Alex: Narrator. Is home alone while his parents drive to Warren, Illinois for the weekend. The volcano erupts when they are away. He decides to go find them to make sure they're alive. His strives to survive the trip there.Alex is fifteen at the beginning of the novel. He lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and is a typical teenager who enjoys World of Warcraft and excels at jujitsu. Over the course of the novel, he demonstrates an instinct for survival, despite his lack of knowledge & skills. "Yeah, I might have blown off stuff Mom forced me to do, but if I'm into something, like taekwondo or WoW, I work like crazy at it." (Chapter 20)
- Darla: A girl Alex runs into on his journey to Warren. Her mother and her help heal his wounds. She eventually accompanies him on his way. She is a very strong character with lots of common sense and a gift for working on machinery.A tough, 4H-savvy, bicycle-grinding 18-year-old girl from Worthington, Iowa with a good understanding of basic farming practices and machinery.
- Rebecca: Alex's 18-year-old older sister, exuberant and chatty. Alex recounts an incident from when he was in elementary school: he remembers his mother scolding Rebecca for losing so many pencils. Alex finds out, instead, that she was getting bullied by another student, so he ends the pencil situation by using his jujitsu skills against her tormentor, who never steals & breaks her pencils again.
- Chet: A mediocre diesel mechanic working near the Iowa-Illinois border
- Alex's father: Alex's father is portrayed as distant...someone who sees the world through rose-colored glasses & prefers to remain on the sidelines as an observer.
- Alex's mother: Alex says that he fought constantly with his mother, but says later in the book that "...now I'd sell my right arm to a cannibal to argue with Mom again." The last argument they had was over Alex needing to tag along on their weekend trip to his uncle's house in Warren, Illinois. Alex won the argument, although it surprised him that they allowed him to stay home. His mother didn't allow him to have a television, but she did let him have a really good computer. Still, she cares about her children. Alex says in chapter 2, "Mom would burn rubber all the way back from my uncle's place in Illinois as soon as she heard about the fire." He also finds out that she had asked the neighbors across the street (Darrin & Joe) to keep an eye on her son while she's gone for the weekend. She's caring. She tries to get her son involved with Action Against Hunger before the volcano, but he says that he was in his "no-religion phase" and that he didn't want to get sucked back into that, even if it was for a good cause. Alex says that his mom was religious.
- Mrs. Edmunds (Darla's mother): Mrs. Edmunds is resourceful and loving. She cares deeply about her daughter Darla and lives in Worthington, Iowa. After her husband's death before the volcanic eruption, she needed to hone her skills and balance them with her daughter's strengths.
- "Target": Alex first encounters "Target," a former inmate from the correctional center in Anamosa, Iowa, near a fire relatively early in the book. Target needs Alex to help him shave the back of his head with a hand-ax. Target tells him that he got his nickname from inmates at the penitentiary and that he tattooed a target on the back of his head because that was the only way that anyone would be able to kill him...if he didn't see them coming.
- Darren: One of Alex's neighbors in Cedar Falls. Alex spends the first part of the disaster with him and his partner Joe
- Uncle Paul: Alex's Uncle in Illinois. Alex's family goes to visit him at the beginning of the book.
- Joe: Alex's neighbor in Cedar Falls. Alex spends the first part of the disaster with him and his partner Darren.
- Max: Alex's cousin in Illinois
- Alex: Alex is a sixteen year old boy who is normally boring and doesn't pay much attention to anything else but his video games but as soon as the ashfall starts his attitude changes drastically more outgoing and tough. He learns to live life without rules, love, and obey to nobody but himself.even though Alex is the main character he isn't featured much in the story, the story is told more like he is narrating the story rather than in it, because of his lack of emotion and detailed responses throughout the story.
- Worthington: The town near Darla's farm.
- Darla: Darla is an eighteen year old girl who is basically the second main character who accompanies Alex on his journey.
- Dr. Mccarthy: Add a description of this character.
- Anna
- Jack: One of Darla's bunnies.
- Katie
- Elroy
- Mrs. Nance
- Rita Mae
- Laura
- Edna
- Jameson
- Darryl
- Mrs. Matthews
- Spork
- Roger
- Evans
- Mr. Kloptsky
- Mrs. Parker
- Mrs. Johnston
Quotes edit
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“I put on the ski goggles and everything turned pink. Typical Dad: Even his ski goggles were rose-colored.”
Alex -
“The door pulled inward in a rush, and I saw the long, black, double barrel of a shotgun pointing right at my nuts. My nuts knew where that shotgun was pointing, too; I could feel them trying to climb up into my body for protection.”
Alex -
“Hunger of choice is a painful luxury; hunger of necessity is terrifying torture.”
Alex -
“We stood there a long time, warmed by the dying embers of Mrs. Edmunds' funeral pyre, the rabbit squirming between us. Three fading sparks of life on an endless, burnt field of ash”
Alex -
“Yipes, but she was a nasty bargainer. What was it with Worthington women, anyway? Maybe there was a Negotiation Like a Shark Club in town and Mrs. Nance and Rita Mae were founding members.”
Alex
Setting & Locations edit
First Sentence edit
I was home alone on that Friday evening.
Errata edit
On page 67 it reads, 'I carried it to the pick up truck where I'd left my skis and poles', when it should have a period at the end.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Mike Mullin (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Country: USA
Publication Date: October 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-1933718552
Page Count: 476
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Country: USA
Publication Date: October 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-1933718552
Page Count: 476
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PZ7.M9196As 2011
- Dewey: <Fic>--dc22
Notes for Parents edit
Reading Level: Young AdultsA good read for teenagers. Contains violence, gore. If this book were a movie, it would be rated PG-13.
Subjects edit
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
- Mike Mullin's Ashfall website: The author's companion website for the novel with the first two chapters as PDF previews available for download.
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