Z for Zachariah

Rating:
Summary: Alone with a Madman
Review: My English teacher MADE our class read this book. For a 14 year old like me, I found it slow paced, unrealistic and much too detailed. However, the book does have a surprising and original ending.

15 year old Ann Burden believes she is the sole survivor of a nuclear holocaust, that apparently has ended the world. The author, Robert O'Brien does not explain the reason for the war, but childishly states "the valley has its own weather system".
The book is of a diary format/first POV which leads to its extended detail about working in the fields, cooking etc.

It begins when a chemist from another city named John Loomis arrives wearing the only "safe suit" in the world. Loomis baths in the radioactive Burden Creek and later on suffers severe radiation poisoning. Ann's kind and caring personality nurses Loomis back to health. At first Loomis, somewhat mysterious, also appears to be approachable, however one night he possesses over Ann in her sleep. Ann flees for her cave and hides from what has become a madman. Loomis uses the dog, Faro, to hunt her down, shoot her and destroy her cave. This almost drives Ann to the point of starvation and triggers a plan to leave the valley.

She takes Loomis's highly prized "safe suit" and almost loses her life in doing so.

The ending and last few chapters are the strong highlights in the book.

I admire O'Brien's detail in capturing the valley and the suspense created. I also am fascinated by the limited characters in the book. However, I don't understand many situations in the book and am not satisfied with Ann and Loomis's relationship.

Perhaps older readers will enjoy the book more.

Rating:
Summary: awesome book!
Review: Definetly one of my all time favorite books. I think o'brien did a great job of putting you in another person's perspective. ...I don't think he could have written it a better way. It leaves you feeling strong and and it makes me feel like i have just overcome something huge. Since i am only 13, i know i have not experienced as many books as some ...but i think even when im 40 i will love this book. Thank you Robert O'brien for writting such a truly excellent book. I've told some of my friends about it, and they have loved it as well.

Rating:
Summary: About Being Alone
Review: Ann Burden is alone and she is scared. The world as we know it has ended and Ann has managed to survive and build a life for herself. She has always assumed being alone was how it would be for the rest of her life. Now there is someone else and she's not sure how she should feel about him. Will they survive together or will she remain alone. Robert C. O'Brien is the master of writing about surving alone and of his three major books, this to me is the best. I have not only read it several times myself but it seems to cycle through my family as well. It's one of those books where you say to yourself, "It's time to read Z for Zachariah" again. The book is a page turner which is evidence of how well O'Brien knows his craft. One final, good thing about this book is that it is a great book for introducing people to post-apocalyptic science fiction. Especially those who are a bit wimpy and would not survive such classics as "No Blade of Grass" by John Christopher or "Earth Abides" by George R. Stewart or newer works such as "Shade's Children" by Garth Nix. Although dark, "Z For Zachariah" is more palatable. The awful things have happened almost before you realize what has gone down.

Rating:
Summary: Two Stars
Review: I rated the book, "Z for Zacharia", Two stars because the whole story is about Ann saying how she was planning to do all these plans that she has and then she never would do anything. I just got so bored with Ann and Mr. Loomis having their little war and Ann just kept letting Mr. Loomis beat up on her. I wish Ann took charge and stuck up for herself instead of taking the abuse from Mr. Loomis. It was a real disappointment. It was way too slow and nothing really happened. There wasn't really even a climax.I mean I thought the author was creative, but I think he should have taken more time and added more details. Well, that is the book.

Rating:
Summary: B for Bad
Review: This is a book in diary format about a young girl named Ann Burden. Ann is the only person left in her area because of a war that killed her friends and family. As boring day goes on to boring day, there is nothing new until Jack Loomis arrives in the valley Ann calls home.
I definitely would not recommend this book to anyone with refined reading tastes. The plot is too bland making the whole book dry. You cannot relate to the characters, unless you are a psychopath or a sixteen-year-old orphan who lives on a farm. If you happen to like monotonous and idiotic stories, feel free to read Z for Zachariah.

Rating:
Summary: Do Not read this book let ALONE buy it!
Review: I HATED this book! It was haunting AND badly written. For one thing, the whole idea of gas wiping out the whole planet except you is bad enough. Than through in a murdering sick-minded man who has a gas proof suit and you pretty much have a trashy novel. I'm sorry to tell you that I cannot tell you my reasons more clearly, but I don't want to give away the ending. It is not the ending it SELF I don't like, it's pretty much the last half of the book. DO NOT BE FOOLD by the beginning. At first I thought that this book was going to be good. I don't want you to be sucked into the same trap that I was. The author was clever enough to make the beginning good and happy. That was thoughts of us who are looking for a nice summer read, it looks good and we keep reading. For thoughts of us who are looking for a creepy book, its plain and clear things are going to be down hill. If you want to know the outline of this story, here goes. It's about a 16 (?) year-old girl who live in a valley by her self. The rest or the worlds has been wiped out by gas. Than a mysterious man appears in the valley wearing a gas-proof suit and that's were it gets bad.

Rating:
Summary: Sit Back and Hold On!!!
Review: Z for Zachariah was an emotional and dramatic story. I feel it has helped me to get a better picture of what this world could be like after nuclear war. Through great use of imagery, the author, Robert C.O'Brien, paints a vivid picture into the reader's mind of the thoughts and sights of the protagonist, Zachariah, and her everyday activities.

The story focuses mainly on Zachariah, a young naive girl who is the sole survivor of her family and of the surrounding towns. Day-to-Day she strives to make a living in the uninfected area her home resides in. At the start of the novel we are introduced to her fear. Immediately she says, "I am afraid; someone is coming." This someone turns out to be a tall man who just so happens to be a scientist. He possesses the only suit left that is capable of keeping radiation out while traveling through radioactive parts of the world. Zachariah takes her time in introducing herself to this man because she knows he may be crazy without the aspects of society around any more. There just so happens to be a lake that is infected with radioactivity near Z's home. Mr. Loomis, the scientist, to swim in this lake and become extremely close to death. Without the aid of Zachariah, he would parish.

At this point, knowing he is sick, she is not sure whether or to come to his aid or stay away from the somewhat scary man. Her final decision is to help him, and she makes this decision mainly on her interest in his knowledge about life outside her few acres of clean living area.

After spending weeks helping Mr. Loomis get better, Zachariah is relieved to find out what he knows about the radioactive world. He unfortunately reports that the entire area surrounding Z's home is radioactive. She also learns that Mr. Loomis had a lab partner that also wanted the suit. By seeing the whole in the chest of the suit that was repaired, she pieces together the puzzle that Mr. Loomis killed his lab partner for sole possession of the radioactive proof suit. Upon this realization, Z runs away to hide in a cave she knows about until she can devise a plan to get Mr. Loomis away from her home.

I think this part of the story was quite intuitive so I am going to allow the reader to finish it. The end is worth reading!

Rating:
Summary: IT'S WORTH READING!!
Review: This book is one of the few good ones I've read this month.It gets you intrugued from the first sentence,then it gets a little boring towards the middle,but as you read along,it holds you in the story again with some surprising events.
The book's about a 16 year old girl called Ann Burden, who seems to be the only one left alive after the nuclear radiation, which effected the whole world except the small valley Ann was livig in. But after about a year of loneliness,a scientist with a safe-suit comes to the valley. At first, Ann's happy not to be on her own,but as the book goes along,the man turns out to be not just an innocent scientist, but someone who's really mysterious,mean,harsh and rude, and worse, he might be a murderer.So, Ann must live which way to live...
I think the book was all right.It was in the form of a diary, so, you coul learn about the character's inner thoughts and feelings.There were some interesting and exciting parts,although I was so-so bored as Ann told about the life and duties in farm life in such a detailed way.I think the author did a better job in Mrs.Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.
Anyway,I liked the book pretty much,although I skipped a lot of parts. But still,it's worth reading!!!

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as it could have been.
Review: I had to read this book for an english class, and I had to analyze it. But I found that there wasn't very much to analyze.

Ann Burden is alone, after a nuclear attac. She lives in a safe valley, but is alone, as everyone else left to find other life. For several days she observes a fire, a thin line that moves closer and closer. Then, from her position at the cave, through her binoculars she can see a man in a green suit covering the whole of him, walk into the valley.

The book does not get interesting until too late. I was ready to go to my english teacher and say that i wanted to stop reading. It was to me a dissapoinment. But I read on and found that a couple of chapters later, the situation was getting more complicated.

So, then the whole story changes. Mind you, its written in diary form. So we are told what she does basically on day to day basis and how she feels. My initial reaction to all that was "unrealistic". I've read more realistic books. Her days are basically working on her farm. And even though there are quite intriguing events, the book does not capture the way it seems like it should.

So, to sum up this long review, I'll say: boring, with some interesting details. NO GOOD ENDING. (I personally think that the endings are somewhat the most important.) PLease e-mail back to me if you think i was wrong or if you agree with me. I don't mind. I'll answer.

Rating:
Summary: Z for Zachariah
Review: I found that this book, although thrilling and suspensful, was quite boring to sum it up in one word. The good parts were about 5 of the 30 odd chapters. Most of it was telling us that she was diging in the garden. There were a few good surprises though, so if you enjoy a heart-gripping sci-fi, go out and read Z for Zachariah.