This young adult novel starts on familiar ground -- the diary of a teenaged girl, with the not-too-unusual interests of boys, high school, figure skating, and the internet. Miranda's world quickly changes when an asteroid collides with the moon, knocking its orbit out of whack, and creating worldwide catastrophe. Tsunamis, floods, volcanoes, and earthquakes destroy life as it once existed, and Miranda's world narrows to the singular focus of survival. Miranda and her family struggling to stretch their meager food supply and to survive the ghastly winter once the sun has been blocked by volcanic ash, and it's a mesmerizing peek into a life of desperation. The author does a great job of portraying the bleakness and the suffering, and the despair of the family as they count the few remaining cans in the pantry and realize how many days they have left before they starve. I could feel the piercing cold in my bones as I read "Life As We Knew It", and couldn't put it down. Well done!