Monument 14

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you have to survive an apocalypse, doing it in a Greenway Store (think Target or WalMart) isn't a bad way to go.

This is the story of Dean, a regular high school junior in Monument, CO who is riding the bus on the way to school. Suddenly there's a hailstorm of epic proportions, causing the bus to crash. The bus carrying his middle-school-aged brother fares better; the bus driver runs it right through the doors of a Greenway store. She unloads her kids and then drives over and collects those kids left on Alex's bus, taking them also to the Greenway. She then goes for help, leaving 14 kids to survive in the Greenway store until she can bring back a rescue team.

Several of the kids are young, ages 5-8. There is also a a natural leader, football jock, a bully, a resourceful girl who steps up as a mother figure to the younger kids, a spunky girl with divided loyalties, a very obnoxious third-grader and Dean's brother Alex (who is a bit of a tech prodigy). It's impressive the way they organise themselves while still remaining kids. There are scenes where they decide that everyone needs new clothing, they manage to cook dinner, they make a place to sleep and a trash/bathroom area and they seal off the air supply to the store. On the other hand they have petty disagreements, eat candy non-stop, cry for mommy and opt out of helping to organise things. They're very resourceful and yet very immature. They're an interesting bunch.

The characters are what really make this story good. They're kids behaving like kids in an extreme situation where there are no adults. Some rise to the occasion, some don't. Dean vacillates between feeling lost, resenting his role in the group, struggling to break out of his social stereotype and feeling guilty for any and all of his negativity. He's a kid who's not cool but has had a crush on a girl for a long time. Seeing the way that translates to this extreme situation is really interesting. Jake is the star football player who always gets the girl - but he also loses his place in the group when it becomes apparent that being a sports star in high school doesn't always make you a great leader. Seeing him struggle to accept his new position (and fall from grace) is both heartbreaking and guilt-inducing when it really does seem fair. Niko is the geeky guy with all the good ideas who wants to lead but doesn't have the people skills that Jake has. But he can get things done even without Jake's help and support. Alex is a little brother through Dean's eyes, but fortunately Dean sees much more in him and Alex rises to Dean's expectations and requests. Dean is the best kind of big brother, drawing out Alex's strengths and taking care of him at the same time.

The romance here is complicated, but only such in that it's high school. It's teenagers trapped in a social structure that no longer works, except that they don't know how to navigate the new situation. Put that together with the apocalypse and a chemical spill and it's kind of a mess. And that's the best part, because this story is anything but a mess.

On audio, this book is narrated by Todd Haberkorn. He is fantastic! He's able to give voice to these characters in a way that brought them to life. I have a copy of this book in print, and flipping through it I know I never would have loved it had I not listened to it first.

This a fabulous YA apocalyptic book with identifiable characters that are well written. The story, although clearly fictional, is just this side of believable because of the way the kids respond to their environment and each other. It's fast paced and full of suspense. This was all around a great read.

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