It's the end of the world as we know it—April Fools!

by Brittany Geragotelis

Happy April Fools Day! This is one of my favorite holidays (I of course love giving presents at Christmas, dressing up at Halloween, and I always throw a Friday the 13th party every time the day rolls around!). Who doesn't love a day that's filled with trickery and lies and whose sole purpose is to freak people out?

I don't usually pull any pranks, but being on edge all day, just waiting for someone to try and pull one over on me...that's exciting! My mom always likes to try to fake me out...a few years ago, she told me that my sister and my now brother-in-law had eloped! So, of course when she called me at work this morning, I was ready for her shenanigans. Only, somehow she'd forgotten and we got off the phone without her saying a thing about the day.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed. Not that I needed her to do anything too elaborate or anything...not like when I was in high school and our local news (in Seattle) did a whole news story about the Space Needle falling down. They had interviews with fake witnesses of the tragedy and everyone was freaking out and crying...and then they said April Fools! Even I agree, that was a little out of control. But so far, no fools on this day...

photo credit: HMH Books for Young Readers

Speaking of things being destroyed (like that topic change?)—I just finished reading an advanced copy of the book, This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The YA novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a meteor has collided with the moon, creating a massive shift in the Earth, causing floods, volcanos, earthquakes, etc. The story's told from the perspective of teen Miranda Evans, who's recording her and her family's experiences in her diaries. Most of the population is dead and the Evans family is scrambling for food and survival.

photo credit: Entertainment Weekly

Now, I love me a good post-apocalyptic story. The Day After Tomorrow is one of those movies I HAVE to watch whenever it's on. And "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is the greatest show ever made, and that was just one apocalypse after another. I find the idea of the destruction of the world as we know it both intriguing as well as terrifying. So, when I picked up This World We Live In, I was totally expecting to like it...

...But all it did was make me depressed.

But I continued to read, because most of the great end-of-the-world stories have somewhat happy endings or some kind of redeeming qualities in the end. This one just got darker and more depressing. And then in the end...well, I won't spoil it for you. The writing itself was good and I really started to like some of the characters (and was annoyed at others) and I thought the idea of the book was good. The bottom line is, I don't really enjoy books that leave me in need of an anti-depressant.

And with that said, I'm off to try and think of a prank I can pull on one of my friends...be careful, it may be YOU!

5x5,
B.