Book Report: Gone by Michael Grant

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Everyday children living in different parts of the world tend to grumble about how they

lead miserable lives as they cannot get rid of the adults in their life. It is just a part of the routine

life to have adults surrounding you. Gone is a sci-fi, page-turning thriller written by the

bestselling author of New York Times, Michael Grant. It is the first book in the series by the

author and has been written in a manner that adds more intrigue to the reader and adds to the

hunger for more. It is a complete pack of action and thrill with mysteries being unfolded at each

turn of the page. It is a unique book in a sense that there are many different characters in the

story that are experiencing different events at different places. The books shows the struggle for

power, order and the fight for survival while being confined in a particular environment.

In the town of San Perdido, things suddenly went far from normal as suddenly every

individual above the age of fourteen was gone, leaving the children confused and surprised.

Having begun an ordinary day, Sam Templeton, who is a fourteen year old boy, finds his teacher

gone suddenly, in the middle of the class. The confusion is further escalated when the children

realize that it wasn’t only their teacher who disappeared, rather every individual above the age of

15 had mysteriously gone. The only thing apart from the children was a giant force field,

encircling the Perdido Beach, hindering anyone from leaving or entering the area. The stranded

children only have time till they turn fifteen but without adults, they are exposed to threat of

conflict, danger and death in the world. Only the young teens are left to survive in the world that

has no phones, no television, no internet, and most importantly, no idea about what had

happened.

The kids have no knowledge about what lies beyond the bubble, but to deal with the

extraordinary situation, they no longer remain ordinary and tend to develop powerful mutations.

Somehow, the children are able to take control of the situation. Sam becomes the leader and
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works together with Astrid, Little Pete, Quinn and Edilio. Sam had a natural talent of being the

leader, but he did not admit that to himself and rather lead a quiet life until he realized that there

was no other way than to step up to the plate. The town has become a chaos with no order

remaining. Sam along with his friends took the responsibility of rebuilding the community and

since they had little time until their fast approaching birthday, they faced a lot of pressure.

All the kids are not exactly normal as there are also the troublemakers. Over time a twist

occurs when some kids start developing powers that are completely strange and even deadly to

some extent. Along with the children, even animals start mutating and since not everyone is able

to control their powers, so the order in the town is completely disturbed. By each passing day,

the deadlier powers begin to strengthen while the resources are being depleted and people are

being manipulated. A time comes when some troubled kids and bullies start taking over the

town, making Sam realize the necessity to leap into action. Regardless of being reluctant, Sam

ends up as being a highly attractive character that has great charisma.

The plot of the story is very fast-paced and gripping, with a very refreshing outlook for

the reader. Even though there are many characters in the book, but the simple writing style of

Michael Grant makes reading a lot easier. Even though the book was huge, but the content and

the tone is so engrossing, that it becomes hard to put the book down for a while. The third person

writing style used by Grant along with no technical words had made the flow of events and

actions very smooth. The author has presented a very unbelievable concept in the book, but

surprisingly he has been successful in crafting a realistic setting. Similarly, the characters in the

book, while being very complex are still highly relatable to each other. Grant has been very

courageous in describing the sense of fear, greed, and desperation in people who were once

considered as very innocent. The best thing about the book is the intrigue and suspense in the
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story that binds the reader till the end. The book is a ride full of emotions while finding the

balance between the evil and the good.