A review by andrearbooks
The World Ends in April by Stacy McAnulty

4.0

The World Ends in April by Stacy McAnulty was such an unconventional premise, but it worked really well. Eleanor is a middle schooler, but she learns the end of the world is coming. She is first familiar with "prepping" because her grandpa is all about that life. Doing her own research she realizes that a Harvard professor has predicted an asteroid is going to hit early, and it will have deadly consequences. Eleanor tells her friend Mack because she wants him to be okay. However, she makes the mistake of telling him at the lunch table, and others find out. Soon they've formed the Nature Club (as a cover for the End of the World Club) to start preparing for what's to come. While this sounds like the darkest of premises, it's really such a wonderful story of friendship and family and even how we consume information. I loved how it explored how Eleanor wasn't so much navigating the potential arrival of an asteroid, but instead the relationships and realities of middle school. It was a story that had such heart, and y'all, I just loved it.