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How I Live Now (Michael L Printz Award Book (Awards))
 
 

How I Live Now (Michael L Printz Award Book (Awards)) (Hardcover)

by Meg Rosoff (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 194 pages
  • Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (Aug 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0385746776
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385746779
  • Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14.2 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,315,810 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Possibly one of the most talked about books of the year, Meg Rosoff’s novel for young adults is the winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize 2004. Heralded by some as the next best adult crossover novel since Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, who himself has given the book a thunderously good quote, this author’s debut is undoubtedly stylish, readable and fascinating.

Rosoff’s story begins in modern day London, slightly in the future, and as its heroine has a 15-year-old Manhattanite called Daisy. She’s picked up at the airport by Edmond, her English cousin, a boy in whose life she is destined to become intricately entwined. Daisy is staying for the summer in her Aunt Penn’s country farmhouse with Edmond and her other cousins. They spend some idyllic weeks together--often alone with Aunt Penn away travelling in Norway. Daisy’s cousins seem to have an almost telepathic bond, and Daisy is mesmerised by Edmond and soon falls in love with him.

But their world changes forever when an unnamed aggressor invades England and begins a years-long occupation. Daisy is parted from Edmond when soldiers take over their home, and Daisy and Piper, her younger cousin, must travel to another place to work. Their experiences of occupation are never kind and always hard. Daisy’s pain, living without Edmond, is tangible.

Rosoff’s writing style is both brilliant and frustrating. Her descriptions and ability to portray the emotions of her characters are wonderful. Her long sentences and total lack of speech marks for dialogue is, however, exhausting. Her narrative is deeply engaging and yet a bit unbelievable. The end of the book is dramatic, but too sudden. The book has a raw, unfinished feel about it, yet that somehow adds to the experience of reading it. It’s flawed but unmissable. (Age 14 and over) --John McLay --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

a magical and utterly faultless voice --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

79 Reviews
5 star:
 (46)
4 star:
 (19)
3 star:
 (7)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (79 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars a children's book that made me cry, 23 Aug 2007
By Linda Oskam "dutch-traveller" (Amsterdam Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: How I Live Now (Paperback)
Motherless Daisy is 15 years old when she is sent by her re-married father from New York to rural England to live with her 4 cousins, whose mother is mainly working or absent, so the children have to fend for themselves. Even though it takes the girl from the Big Apple some time to get used to live in the countryside of another country, she soon discovers that she has not only found new friends, but also a soulmate and lover in her cousin Edmond. But then disaster strikes: war breaks out and slowly but surely the children get dragged into the conflict and the family falls apart. All through the ordeal Daisy is accompanied by her younger cousin Piper and she definitely feels the presence of Edmond, who they are trying to find during a long, harrowing hike through the countryside in which they try to stay away from the enemy. When Daisy finally finds Edmond back it is too little, too late...

A beautiful book, very much written from the perspective of Daisy. The book starts out light and funny iwith the observations of an American town girl on English life and customs, but it gets more and more grim when the war with the (unidentified) enemy breaks out and things go from bad to worse. A book for adolescents with a light and a dark side.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!! Brilliant!!! Brilliant!!!!!!!!, 18 Oct 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: How I Live Now (Hardcover)
This is just so phenomenally well written. I defy anyone to read it unmoved. I finished it this morning and it has been right at the front of my mind all day. It has joy, it has humour, it has fear and sheer horror and each is absolutely real.

The "heroine" of the book is self absorbed so that events which do not immediately concern her - like a World War - are hardly noticed as she is completely wrapped up in abandoning herself body and soul to her cousin. Eventually she faces the real world and the reader is spared nothing in her descriptions of what horrors are around her. The words are simply written, with not a wasted syllable, and very powerful. I was grabbed by the throat and found it unputtdownable.

This adds to my tally of great books on the futility and sheer waste which is war. Unlike other reviewers I didn't rate Birdsong as highly as some Pat Barker novels, All Quiet on the Western Front, An Ice Cream War, or (my favourite) A Very Long Engagement by Sebastian Japrisot.

Read this book. Read it now. I am prepared to put good money on its being "discovered" over the course of the coming year - so get ahead of theh crowd and be ready to be utterly dazzled and have your breath taken from you. In the words of another writer, this is a breathtaking work of staggering genius.

Brilliant!!! Brilliant!!!!! Brilliant!!!!!!!!

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, 20 May 2007
This review is from: How I Live Now (Paperback)
It is always said that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but in this instance, I did. I was rush buying for a holiday and the dark yet beautiful cover caught my eye, telling a story of beauty and fear.

The novel delivered exactly what I had seen on the cover. The story is engaging and for a girl aged 14 (I am now 16) I could totally relate to Daisy. The subject matter is different from anything else seen in childrens books today, which some may think makes the book harder to read, when in actual fact makes the story far more interesting. Some aspects are rather upsetting, but I felt this to be a good transition into slightly more mature novels. The relationship between Daisy and Edmond in particular was an introduction to adult themes that teenagers come across on a much more regular basis as they grow.

Two years have passed and I still read this, finding it as moving as I did the first time. I don't feel either that there is a set audience for this novel, anyone could read it and enjoy it as much as I did.

Its cover shall forever be imprinted in my mind as an image of what I wish my life could be, and the story will never be forgotten.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gripping Story.
As a young reader this book would not have been my first choice, but after it was recomended to me I read it. And I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Mr. Paul M. Hudson

4.0 out of 5 stars How I Live Now - nice story
I read the book `How I Live Now' from Meg Rosoff. It is about a girl, Daisy, who moved to England to live with her aunt and cousins. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ronny De Keer

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrorism becomes war
A strange and wonderful book. Told from the viewpoint of a wisecracking American teenager, sent to England to live with the sister of her dead mother and a clutch of cousins, it... Read more
Published 1 month ago by E. Shaw

1.0 out of 5 stars How I Live Now
The plot lacked exitement, the bulk of the story is about the war - which the blurb fails to mention, the rest of it focuses on the dull relationship between a 15 year old... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Amina Rasool

4.0 out of 5 stars Sad, lovely and desperate
Daisy is fifteen and has stopped eating as a form of protest against her father turning from her to his new wife and unborn child, so despite rising international tensions he... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jo Bennie

5.0 out of 5 stars Favourite Book Of All Time!
I bought this for my teenage daughter a few years ago, and she hasn't stopped raving about it since - we are now 2 years on! Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. J. Oliver

4.0 out of 5 stars A very emotional story
unlike normal parents my mum is always telling me to slow down reading my books because it takes me about half an hour to read 200 pages, so then she started taking me to the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Y. Flynn

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbeatable
How I live now is just.... I can't explain it. Its completely strange put completely perfect! I haven't really read any books from Meg Rosoff's collection, and reading this book... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mrs. Susan Beckwith

3.0 out of 5 stars short but sweet
I enjoyed this sweet little story and I emphasise the 'little' here. I read this book in a day and it left me feeling half full! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Jala sufian

5.0 out of 5 stars Take my hand and run with me...
I am 17 but i was 15 when i read this and it still firmly remains one of my all time favourite books. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Kelly

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