Book Review: On The Edge of Gone

Title: On the Edge of Gone

Author: Corinne Duyvis

Rating: 4/5

Teen Reviewer: Se Choi

When a comet is scheduled to hit the earth, Denise and some people on earth go to shelters meant to protect them from the impact and debris. Everyone else has left the earth to go to another habitable planet. Denise and her mom were going to the shelter, she gives her old english teacher a ride to her shelter. When they reach the shelter, it turns out to be a generation ship. The captain of the Nassau allows them to stay in the ship for two days but no water use or eating the ship’s supplies. Denise looks around the ship and immediately does not want to leave.She stays in the Nassau in comfort and stays inside the ship during the impact. But when Denise’s mom takes a shower when she gets high, Denise and her mom are kicked out of the Nassau. Despite Denise’s sorrow, the friends that she made in the Nassau visit her daily. When a tsunami comes toward the place she lives in, she saves her friends by quickly notifying them of the tsunami and getting them safely into the Nassau. In thanks, the captain grants her a spot on the Nassau, but not her mom. Denise constantly takes care of her mom when her physical state gets weaker. She also looks for her sister that disappeared shortly before the comet crash. Denise helps the ship in any way possible, like cleaning or training with a teacher. When she borrows a water scooter to find blue barrels filled with supplies that escaped during the tsunami. During a search she finds her sister in a canoe with a barrel. When both the sisters talk to the captain, he lets her sister stay because she found the supplies. But at the end Denise’s sister trades her spot for her mom. And Denise and her mom goes to space while her sister stays behind to help refugees in shelters.

This book shows the main character’s thoughts thoroughly and realistically. Denise’s reactions are precise and shows how we would react to a crisis.