Not the End of the World - Hardcover

Mccaughrean, Geraldine

3.38

630 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060760303 ISBN 13: 9780060760304

Publisher: HarperTeen, 2005

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What was it really like when the heavens opened and the world drowned?

Everyone knows the story of the Flood: The man called on by God to build an ark. The animals that came on board two by two. The rain that fell for forty days and forty nights.

But what about the rest of the story? What about Noah's wife and daughters-in-law? And what if there was a daughter as well? How would it feel to head into the unknown, with only each other and all those animals? What would it be like to turn away friends and neighbors struggling in the water? Could all of it really be part of God's Plan -- the hunger and pain and fear?

Carnegie Medalist Geraldine McCaughrean transforms the familiar story into a provocative new tale that is told through the voices of Noah's family, and even the animals. At the heart is a daughter who questions her father when no one else will.

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About the Author:

Geraldine McCaughrean is the winner of England's most prestigious children's book award, the Carnegie Medal, for A Pack of Lies. She is the first-ever three-time winner of the Whitbread Children's Book Award, most recently for Not the End of the World, which is also a School Library Journal Best Book and was named an Outstanding International Book by the United States Board on Books for Young People/Children's Book Council. The White Darkness was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award. Her other recent books include The Stones Are Hatching; The Kite Rider, an ALA Notable Children's Book, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and a Nestl� Smarties Book Prize Bronze Medal winner, shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal; and Stop the Train!, an ALA Notable Children's Book, recipient of a Highly Commended Carnegie Medal Citation, one of Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books, and a Parent's Guide to Children's Media Award winner. Ms. McCaughrean lives in Berkshire, England.

From School Library Journal:

Starred Review. Grade 9 Up–McCaughrean moves far beyond cozy picture-book images of arks and animals to what life onboard might really have been like for Noah and family. The monstrous tidal wave that crashes in the first pages sets the scene and puts the huge boat afloat. Although McCaughrean allows both human and animal narrators to offer their perspectives on the ordeal, the main storyteller is Noah's daughter, Timna. Despite Noah's warnings that demons might seek a place onboard, she helps rescue a young boy and his baby sister from drowning. Japheth and his reluctant wife help her care for the children but devote most of their attention to the animals. Shem, convinced of his own righteousness, cares only for his own unborn child and the future glory of his line. The foul air, rotting food, and continuing crises take their toll on all of the creatures trapped in the huge boat. Yet Noah never doubts God's plan or the persistence of miracles. Only his wife, in the presence of the other women, ultimately questions God's reasons and figures out a way to save Timna and the stowaways. Vivid descriptions help readers hear the cries of the drowning and experience the claustrophobia of shipboard life. Distinct voices for humans and animals add to the textual richness. The novel, which won the Whitbread Children's Book Award, raises thought-provoking questions in its expansion and exploration of an ancient tale.–Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
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