The Rule Of Thre3 by Eric Walters - ESSENTIAL

Walters, Eric The Rule Of Three, 405 p. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2014. $18. Language: PG (6 swears, 0 ‘f’); Violence: PG (many bloodless deaths); Mature Content: G.  

Just another day at school - until the power goes out.  Things that run strictly on batteries still work - like Adam’s junker car, but anything that uses electronic circuitry is dead.  Back in his neighborhood, people are starting to panic.  Adam helps his retired military neighbor keep order, while watching over his younger siblings and waiting for his police chief mom to return.  As the power outage stretches on, the neighborhood bands together to keep each other safe, keep out human predators and make plans for the long term.  There are others out there who covet everything the subdivision has built and more drastic measures are necessary in order to preserve all of their lives.  Walters writes an excellent look at the beginnings of a world without electricity and the desperate fight to preserve humanity and kindness in a world gone mad.   

This is kind of how I imagine the backstory of one of the neighborhoods in the TV show Revolution,  with someone leading who doesn’t just want to preserve power for themselves.  Really well-written and engaging without descending into gratuitous violence.  

MS - ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher