What I'm Reading -- How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Needing an audio book to distract me on a trip across state by myself, I picked up How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (mostly because I could finish it in my 4 ½ hour trip). This is the story of Daisy, a 15-year old New Yorker, who is sent to England to live with her Aunt and cousins she barely knows. Soon after arriving at the farm, war around the world breaks out and Aunt Penn is stuck outside of the country. Daisy and her cousins survive on their own for a time, but are then split up when the military needs to use their farm. Until this point Daisy becomes very close to her relatives, and emgages in an inappropriate relationship with her cousin Edmund. The second half of the book is mostly following Daisy, who is moved closer to the war, then tries to reunite with Edmond.

Rosoff has plenty to say about the world in this book, especially when comparing the extremes of government. Rosoff evaluates an almost utopian society versus living under an oppressive controlling government. The characters often get along best when there is a balance between the two worlds. She also shows the horrors of war without being overly graphic.

The audio book is read brilliantly by Kim Mai Guest, who voices lots of cartoons like Rocket Power. She does a great job with the book and breezes through the emotional sections appropriately.

I can not say that I actually liked this book, but Rosoff did three great things. She kept me riveted from beginning to end, pulled a few emotions out of me and created a work that stuck with me a few days after listening to it.