Book Review of HOW I LIVE NOW

Bibliography:

Rosoff, Meg. 2005. How I live now. New York: Random House, Inc.
ISBN 0307207234


Plot Summary:

How I Live Now is the story of fifteen year old Daisy who leaves New York to stay with her Aunt and cousins in England. Daisy has never met her cousins, but comes to stay with them as a way to escape life with her father and stepmother. A couple of days after Daisy’s arrival, her aunt leaves on business. The following day London is attacked, and England is occupied by an unidentified enemy. At first, Daisy and her cousins enjoy the freedom they experience without adult supervision, and Daisy develops a bond with them, especially Edmond who has the ability to tell what Daisy is thinking without her saying anything. Soon they lose electricity, contact with the world, and food becomes scarce. The occupation spreads to the countryside, and British armed forces arrive and commandeer their house. Daisy and her cousins are separated and sent to stay with other families. Fortunately, Daisy and Piper, her nine-year old cousin, remain together. As the “war” progresses, Daisy and Piper have an opportunity to return to Piper’s home. They travel the countryside, hiding and surviving on their wits, and arrive at the home to find no one there. Piper and Daisy remain there waiting for Piper’s brothers, Edmond, Isaac, and Osbert, to return. One day, after months of no electricity or phone service, the phone suddenly starts ringing. Daisy answers it, and it is her father on the other end. He uses his “influence” to have Daisy returned to the United States. Daisy remains in the US for six years until visitors are allowed to enter England. She returns to be with her cousins and finds that Edmond has been traumatized by the war and Daisy’s sudden departure. Daisy decides to remain in England to help Edmond heal and to live with the one person she loves the most in the world.


Critical Analysis:

I was fortunate to be able to listen to the audio book of How I Live Now and to read sections of Meg Rosoff’s award winning book as well. I enjoyed the audio version narrated by Kim Mai Guest who accurately portrays the world as seen through the eyes of a teen. Guest is able to do such a wonderful job of narrating the story, because Meg Rosoff created a real main character with flaws and strengths. The author also offers her readers a view of what could happen if the world goes to war. Although the thought of going to war is not one of the happiest topics, Rosoff’s detailed depiction of Daisy and Piper’s struggle to survive captures the readers’ attention and makes them realize that they, too, could survive if they were forced to do so.

One of the reasons that How I Live Now is so powerful is that the story is revealed by fifteen-year old Daisy, and the author does an excellent job of portraying this teen with her attitude and self-centeredness. The story begins with Daisy introducing herself to the reader, “My name is Elizabeth but no one’s ever called me that . . . my life so far has been plain. More Daisy than Elizabeth from the word go. But the summer I went to England to stay with my cousins everything changed” (page 7). By presenting the story from Daisy’s point of view with comments and questions directed at the reader, the author draws readers in to the story. For example, when Daisy is telling about when she is able to bathe for the first time in weeks, she states, “If you’ve ever worn the same clothes day and night for weeks, you’ll know how amazing it feels when you make your skin silky and smooth again, and how happy you can be just cutting your fingernails and scrubbing the dirt out of your hands” (page 188). By directing Daisy’s statement to the reader, Rosoff makes readers feel as if they are having a conversation with the main character herself. This is especially the case if they are listening to the book on tape. Kim Mai Guest does such a great job of relaying the attitude and voice of the troubled Daisy that the audience begins to feel that Daisy is a “real” person. This feeling that Daisy could be a real person is further supported by the fact that Meg Rosoff does not portray Daisy as a perfect teen. She has her share of problems. She has issues with her stepmother, “Davina the Diabolical” (page 19); she has issues with food and has been treated for anorexia; and, after meeting her cousin Edmond, she becomes involved in an incestual relationship with him. Although many teens do not face these particular issues, the fact that Daisy’s life is far from perfect, makes her character more believable. As Daisy grows throughout the story and finds herself, teens can take solace in the fact that she does, at the end, “know exactly where (she) belongs” (page 236). Teens will feel hope that they, too, can face their own problems and find their own place in the world.

In addition to developing a believable character, Meg Rosoff tells a story of survival that could actually happen. Given the events of the world today, it is entirely plausible that a war involving “snipers and small groups of rebels” were “half the time you (can’t) tell the Good Guys from the Bad Guys . . . buses (blow) up . . . and bombs (are) found in shopping malls and packages” (215) could occur. Instead of dwelling on these aspects of “the war”, though, Rosoff focuses the story on how Daisy and her cousin survive. She tells about the realities of surviving on your own wits, not from an omniscient point of view, but from the point of view of a teenager experiencing it: “In the middle of the rainstorm I remembered our bowl and reached out to get it, filtered off the stuff that was swimming on the top and drank the water down. . . After about four bowlfuls of water each we both felt a lot better except for stomach cramps.” Readers experience the lack of food, the cold, the blisters, the fear of what lay ahead, etc. along with Daisy, so they can relate to her desire to rewrite a Social Studies textbook to include a unit on “How to Survive Half Dead in the Wild Without Much in the Way of Hope” (page 192). Even though Daisy is “rescued” by her father and returned to the United States, the author does not write a happily ever after ending. Instead, Daisy tells the readers about the six years she spent waiting to return to England. Although she lived her life, “nothing distracted me from waiting. The. Time. Simply. Passed” (page 208). When she is finally reunited with her cousins, she learns about her Aunt’s death and how Edmond had changed as a result of the trauma he witnessed. Daisy does not return to the same place she arrived at six years earlier, but she returns to “where (she) belong(s). Here. With Edmond” (page 236). Rosoff elects to end the story in much the same way that life occurs - people living their life with hope for the future. As readers finish How I Live Now, they are left with the hope that Daisy will help Edmond return to a more normal life.

How I Live Now is an entertaining book that prompts its readers to think about the “what ifs” of the world. What if there is a war? What if I am separated from my family? Could I survive? Meg Rosoff writes a realistic story that involves her readers and does not write down to them. Rosoff allows her readers to participate in Daisy’s life. This experience might lead readers to gain an insight in to their own selves and realize that they, too, can face and overcome obstacles in their own lives.


Review Excerpts:

Winner of the 2005 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature

Winner of the 2005 ALA Best Books for Young Adults

School Library Journal (August 2005) - “Though the novel has disturbing elements, Rosoff handles the harshness of war and the taboo of incest with honest introspection. This Printz award winner is a good choice for book discussions as it considers the disruption of war both physically and emotionally and should be on every high school and public library shelf.”

Horn Book Magazine (July 2005) - “In this 2005 Printz Award winner, fifteen-year-old Daisy speaks directly to the listener. Her city-smart voice both tells her story and provides an ironic commentary on the cataclysmic events that forever alter her life the summer she goes to England to visit her cousins: sixteen-year-old Osbert, fourteen-year-old Edmond and his twin brother Isaac, and nine-year-old Piper. Guest's voice is perfect for the Daisy we meet at the beginning, before the world slides inexorably into dystopia: a mixture of flippant nonchalance, barely concealed anger, carefully controlled pain, and gargantuan self-absorption. The voices of the secondary characters are all relayed through Daisy's consciousness, and Guest is careful to individualize them without allowing us to lose the sense that we are still hearing Daisy speak. As the horrors of war gradually alter the landscape, Guest's matter-of-fact delivery makes this tale both bearable and all too real.”


Connections:

After reading How I Live Now, hold a series of discussions about the realities of war, family relationships, anorexia, etc. Although the topic of incest could be addressed, this might be a controversial issue to bring up in a classroom or the library.


Have students find specific examples of how Daisy and Piper survived without a ready source of food, shelter, clothing, electricity, etc. Have students study other survival techniques. If possible, bring in a person who has undergone survival training, such as a member of the military, and have this person talk about survival techniques.


Discuss what students would do if a war started and they were separated from their families. Take in to consideration that they do not live in the country were food can be found in the wild. What would they do for food, clean water, etc.?


Read LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green (ISBN 0525475060). Compare the main character in this book to Daisy. What issues is this teen facing? Do the authors of LOOKING FOR ALASKA and HOW I LIVE NOW accurately capture the feelings and actions of teens? Why do you think that both of these books won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature?