Try It Tuesday: The Age of Miracles!

What would you do if the earth's rotation suddenly began to slow, turning the days to night and the time of the moon to the hour of the midnight sun? If your world changed as sharply as Julia's does?

'On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, 11-year-old Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life--the fissures in her parents’ marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love, the bizarre behavior of her grandfather who, convinced of a government conspiracy, spends his days obsessively cataloging his possessions. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues.'

~(As taken from Goodreads)

This is one of those hauntingly nostalgic novels that you discover strangely and, in hindsight, miraculously. It was recommended to me by the very talented Lauren Oliver - author of the Delirium trilogy - at a book signing. Upon hearing the premise of the story, I knew I had to read it.

For American readers, this may be a book you already know of, as it was released last summer in the US, but here in the UK - it's only recently been stocked on our shelves. About time!

Julia's story is arguably a lonely one. I personally felt a deep sense of sympathy for her as she struggles with family, friends, first love and the continuous upheaval of the world she lives in just as she's starting to adapt. This is what I think makes it so relatable for in particular, female readers. It also appeals to people in that stage between childhood and adulthood - on the very brink of something. 

On a more philosophical level, I loved the questions the book posed. As the hours of the day begin to increase - to a 48+ hour period, there's a dilemma between those who still wish to live by the 24 hour clock time - clock timers - and those who live in 'real time' - real timers - rising as the sun does, and adapting to sleep in 20 hour periods. It's political and gritty and told from a child's POV, strangely observant. 

I'd recommend to fans of the Dust Lands trilogy simply because it offers a different view of a potential apocalypse and the effects it would have on us 'Wreckers'. 

~Ella