Let's Call It a Doomsday

Starred review from June 17, 2019
High school student Ellis Kimball suffers from severe anxiety, which stems from her fixation on how the world might soon end. Much to the chagrin of her family and therapist, she throws much of her energy into buying food and supplies to survive the impending apocalypse. While Ellis is devout in her Mormon faith, she also questions many of its tenets, particularly since she is coming to terms with her sexual identity. After she meets Hannah, who is convinced that her prophetic dreams of the apocalypse will land the two together at the end of the world, her life is upended. Henry (Heretics Anonymous) develops a separate voice for Ellis’s constant anxiety, both extending the characterization and adding a light touch to the story. This is a rare YA novel in its approach to religious faith as a life-giving, if complicated, aspect of a young adult’s life. Henry walks a fine line, showing Mormonism’s many layers of tradition while questioning central aspects of it, particularly attitudes toward LGBTQ people. Full of heart and hope, even as she believes the world is about to end, Ellis is a protagonist to root for. Ages 13–up. Agent: Sarah LaPolla, Bradford Literary Agency.

Starred review from July 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-High school junior Ellis Kimball is prepared for the end of the world. She lives by the mantra "anything terrible is possible," accumulating supplies to survive various forms of disaster. If she can save her close-knit Mormon family from the apocalypse, she reasons, it will make up for all the times that her anxiety disrupted their lives. What she's not prepared for is meeting Hannah Marks in her therapist's waiting room. Hannah claims that she knows how the world will end-and she's had visions of Ellis standing beside her when it does. With the apocalypse looming, Hannah draws Ellis into a quest to find an elusive prophet to interpret her vision, as well as into her witty, diverse friend group. There Ellis meets bisexual Talmage, who helps her acknowledge her attraction to both boys and girls. But the closer the end of the world gets, the less concerned Ellis is with simple survival-she wants to define the kind of life she's surviving for. Ellis is a whip-smart and compelling protagonist who grapples with deep questions about the nature of belief, identity, and control. This is one of the few YA titles with a Mormon protagonist, and Ellis's faith is portrayed as a complex and meaningful part of who she is. Humorous dialogue and richly developed supporting characters add to the appeal. VERDICT Hand to fans of Courtney Stevens's Dress Codes for Small Towns or John Corey Whaley's Where Things Come Back. A first selection.-Elizabeth Giles, Lubuto Library Partners, Zambia

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
Isolated high-school junior Ellis deals with her severe anxiety by preparing for potential doomsday scenarios. She meets Hannah, who says that fate has brought them together for the end of the world. Ellis, a deeply religious Mormon, must find a way to believe that the world will continue--a type of faith more complex than believing in doomsday. A too-rare, well-rounded portrayal of a contemporary religious adolescent.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2019
If the world ended, would you be ready? This is the question that high school junior Ellis Kimball focuses on constantly, as she deals with severe anxiety by learning how to prepare for every potential doomsday scenario, from earthquakes to nuclear winter. Ellis's life in Berkeley is isolated; she eats lunch alone in the library and reassures herself that peers will like her when the apocalypse comes and her disaster-?preparedness warnings help them survive. Leaving therapy one week, she meets Hannah, who says that fate has brought them together for the end of the world, if they can determine when and where they should be when it happens. Ellis is a deeply religious person, and the reader sees how Ellis's upbringing in the Mormon church influences her perspective; her religion has taught her to think carefully about the afterlife, faith, and family. The various secondary characters have realistic, sometimes frustrated, reactions to Ellis and her anxiety-driven behaviors. As Ellis learns to consider the hopeful alongside the negative scenarios, the story rushes toward its intriguing, suspenseful conclusion (the possibility that Ellis has been right all along is kept open until almost the end). Ellis must find a way to believe that the world will continue?a type of faith more complex than believing in doomsday. A too-rare, well-rounded portrayal of a contemporary religious adolescent, from the author of Heretics Anonymous (rev. 7/18). christina l. dobbs

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from June 1, 2019
Ellis Kimball has faith in the imminent end of the world. She's failed her driving test twice because fears of hitting elderly pedestrians prevent her from even starting the car. She stockpiles survival gear and spends lunch period in the school library, the perfect place for a mass shooter--or Ellis herself--to hide. She loves her family but neither understands nor is understood by them. In her therapist's waiting room, she meets Hannah, a girl from her class who says she knows when and how the world is going to end: on Dec. 21, during a freak San Francisco snowstorm, while Hannah and Ellis are holding hands. While Ellis makes flyers to warn everyone, Hannah enlists her help to find a homeless psychic called Prophet Dan, who she is certain will be able to help them. Ellis is a Latter-day Saint; her faith is as important to her as her survival, and her belief in Hannah feels holy. But Hannah is neither a mystic nor a saint. Told from Ellis' probing, intelligent point of view, the story reaches a lovely, surprising conclusion that offers respect and healing for all concerned. Henry (Heretics Anonymous, 2018) writes witty dialogue, creates complicated characters, and treats different religious beliefs with sincerity and respect. Ellis and Hannah are white, and Hannah is lesbian. Secondary characters are broadly diverse. Don't be put off by the canned tomato cover: This one's a gem. (Fiction. 12-18)

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