It all begins when the media announce a unique spectacle: a meteor about to hit the moon.
Like everyone else, 16-year-old Miranda's family all gather in the street to watch the event. But when the meteor crashes, the impact is so great that the moon is thrown out of orbit and gradually moves nearer the earth. This starts to affect the earth's magnetic field: first there is television disturbance, then the mobile telephone network breaks down; bit by bit, people have to give up all the comforts of modern civilisation.
So - what does one do when there is no food left at the supermarket? When there's no more electricity? No running water? No proper heating because the oil has run out? And when it freezes and snow storms rage in August?
In her diary, Miranda vividly describes whether - and how - her family manages to survive.
The author
Susan Beth Pfeffer (*1948 in New York) is a North American author of children's books and science fiction.
She decided she wanted to be a writer in her first class at school, and is delighted that her ambition worked out. "Life as We Knew It" is the first of her books to appear in German. Susan Beth Pfeffer enjoys ice skating, the cinema and unhealthy food. She lives with her cats in Middletown, New York.
"This is a great honor and I am so thrilled, I can't even describe how,"
were Susan Beth Pfeffer's words in expressing her enthusiasm at winning
the Buxtehude Bull, the young people's book award, which is being presented for the fortieth time this year.
