Module 3: How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff.

Summary: Daisy leaves an unhappy home to live with her cousins in an ancient English manor house. When she gets there, Daisy finds the home she’s been missing with Edmond, Isaac and Piper, though her feelings for Edmond are a little more complicated. The idyll is soon interrupted by a mysterious war, and Piper and Daisy are separated from the brothers. Everything’s falling apart, but Daisy is determined to find her way back to Edmond.

Reference: Rosoff, M. (2004). How I live now. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.

Impressions: Daisy is an entertaining, challenging character, and I love her voice. The entire story is told from her perspective, and Rosoff narrative style is representative of a 15-year old’s speech patterns. Daisy is funny and prickly, and her journey from isolated, bitter teenager to family member is touching. I also liked Rosoff’s description of the changes brought by war, gradual at first, then world-shattering. I could see parents being sensitive about this book, because it treats anorexia and incest casually, but it's all part of Daisy's metamorphosis from a sullen, self-centered youth to young woman, protecting her family and struggling to survive. 

Review: This first novel is intelligent, funny, serious, and sweet; a winning combination of acerbic commentary, innocence, and sober vision. Sent from Manhattan to live with four English cousins on their farm, fifteen-year-old Daisy is smitten with the lush, pastoral beauty around her, but especially with her cousin Edmond, who surprises her "in about half a million ways each day." Daisy's and Edmond's idyllic love is interrupted when an unnamed enemy power invades the country (à la Marsden's Tomorrow, When the War Began): the British army confiscates the farm, and the children are split up and evacuated to separate places. As the violence escalates, Daisy and youngest cousin Piper escape their caretakers and make their way home through an uncertain countryside, where fields and woods may yield either carnage or sustenance. Daisy's account, in eccentrically punctuated run-on sentences, has a breathless directness, a mixture of urbane self-mockery and first-time wonder,  that is utterly captivating. Through her eyes, we see the practical effects of the occupation--how civilians rally to bring in the harvest, provide medical care, and even milk cows in the absence of electricity. Refreshingly, Rosoff understates Daisy's transformation from self-absorbed, defensive anorexic to generous, loving hero, but that inner evolution is always apparent in her bracing wit and intense response to beauty, both human and natural. Hilarious, lyrical, and compassionate, this is, literarily and emotionally, deeply satisfying.

Baker, D.F. (2004). How I live now [review]. Horn Book Review, (80)50, 597-80. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2308/ehost/.

Suggested use: This could be featured in a book display of award-winning young adult books. There are such a wealth of books written for teenagers that it can be hard to sift through and find the best ones. Such a book display would highlight quality literature for high school-aged kids.