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Editorial Content for After the Ashes

Book

After the Ashes

Reviewer (text)

Christine Irvin

The year is 1883, and 13-year-old Katrien Courtland doesn’t have time for her aunt’s lessons on how to be a lady and run a household. She wants to spend her life exploring the magnificent jungle around her village on the island of Java, sharing her discoveries with her best friend, Slamet, a native boy. Katrien delights in finding new flora and fauna, as well as wild animals. Her particular passion is proving Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

She similarly doesn’t have time to socialize with other girls on the island, particularly with stuck-up Brigitta Burkhart, her used-to-be-best friend. The two are growing up --- in totally opposite directions. But Katrien can’t help running into Brigitta in different places around the island. Each time Brigitta manages to push Katrien’s buttons, and Katrien usually ends up getting in trouble and being humiliated.

The author does a great job creating a story that shows what girls might have done in the face of such an incredible disaster.

Imagine the girls’ dismay when they are left together to fight for their lives. The thought-to-be extinct volcano, Krakatau, suddenly erupts, sending plumes of deadly smoke and ash across the town, covering everything in a thick blanket of dust. Then a tsunami comes roaring into the village. Katrien and Brigitta each manage to escape to the jungle, where they find then themselves together without food, water or anyone else to help them. Will they survive this terrible disaster?

Author Sara K. Joiner writes a gripping coming-of-age story with AFTER THE ASHES, one that forces Katrien to face some unpleasant truths about what she thought was a perfect life on the island, and one that pits young girls together against the mighty forces of nature.

Throughout the narrative, Katrien recites passages from Darwin’s book, ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. The reader is left with a sense of what Darwin wrote and how Katrien was relating her life to Darwin’s words.

Before I read this book, I was familiar with the island of Java, but I had never heard of Krakatau. This story is based on the volcano’s historic eruption and the disaster that followed. Katrien and Briggitta are fictional characters, but the author does a great job creating a story that shows what girls might have done in the face of such an incredible disaster. This is a good read for historical fiction fans, Darwin enthusiasts and those who simply enjoy a good story.

Teaser

 

One stifling afternoon, Katrien's world turns upside-down when the nearby volcano Krakatau erupts with a terrifying blast. For days, a deathly ash rains down on the Javan coast, and everything is soon buried under the dust or destroyed by the tsunamis that follow. Amidst the chaos, Katrien knows her only hope of survival is to flee the jungle with the one person she vowed she'd never befriend.

Promo

One stifling afternoon, Katrien's world turns upside-down when the nearby volcano Krakatau erupts with a terrifying blast. For days, a deathly ash rains down on the Javan coast, and everything is soon buried under the dust or destroyed by the tsunamis that follow. Amidst the chaos, Katrien knows her only hope of survival is to flee the jungle with the one person she vowed she'd never befriend.

About the Book

In this riveting coming-of-age survival story, a stubborn and intellectual teen must fight for her life when the mighty volcano Krakatau erupts and puts her hometown on the Javanese coast in mortal danger.
 
In 1883, on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies, 13-year-old Katrien Courtland is determined to prove Darwin's theory of natural selection. Unfortunately, nothing causes her Aunt Greet more angst than Katrien crawling around the muddy jungle collecting bugs in the name of science and in the company of a native boy, no less! If only Katrien would take an interest in running a household and making friends with other girls. But Katrien has no interest in changing, especially if it means socializing with the likes of mean Brigitta Burkhart.
 
Then, one stifling afternoon, Katrien's world turns upside-down when the nearby volcano Krakatau erupts with a terrifying blast. For days, a deathly ash rains down on the Javan coast, and everything is soon buried under the dust or destroyed by the tsunamis that follow. Amidst the chaos, Katrien knows her only hope of survival is to flee the jungle with the one person she vowed she'd never befriend.
 
Set against the backdrop of one of the most spectacularly horrifying natural disasters in human history, this debut novel by Sara Joiner is by turns exciting, funny, tragic and poignant.