Ashes - (Ashes Trilogy) by Ilsa J Bick (Paperback)

About the Book

Alex, a resourceful 17-year-old running from her incurable brain tumor; Tom, who has left the war in Afghanistan; and Ellie, an angry eight-year-old, join forces after an electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky and kills most of the world's population, turning some of those who remain into zombies and giving the others superhuman senses.

Book Synopsis

An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions. When it happens, Alex was hiking in the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom--a young soldier--and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP. For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it's now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.

Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling novel about a world that could be ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation.

Review Quotes

"[A]n impeccable sci-fi/horror balance, quick pace, and risky storytelling all live up to the jacket's promise." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

-- (10/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"Bick delivers an action-packed tale of an apocalypse unfolding, launching a trilogy with flair." --Publishers Weekly

-- (6/11/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"Bick has a winner with this series and your students, including reluctant readers, will love it." --starred review, Library Media Connection

-- (1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"Bick takes the best of post-apocalyptic, zombie fiction and adds...the exact thing that has been sorely lacking from those genres: girl power, and in a heaping dose." --starred, VOYA

-- (10/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"Splendidly paced apocalyptic zombie horror ends with a thrilling, terrifying cliffhanger and a number of unresolved mysteries." --Kirkus Reviews

-- (6/28/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"The novel is equal parts horrifying and riveting, and many teens will be compelled to devour it in one sitting." --School Library Journal

-- (10/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"This is an affecting postapocalyptic tale that divides its time between survival story and horror, as when readers encounter the vividly described results of the EMPs and zombie attacks." --Booklist

-- (9/15/2011 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Ilsa J. Bick is a child psychiatrist, film scholar, former Air Force major, and now a full-time author. Her critically acclaimed, award-winning YA novels include "Draw the Dark," "Drowning Instinct," and "Ashes "(a 2011 VOYA Perfect Ten).Ilsa currently lives in rural Wisconsin, near a Hebrew cemetery. One thing she loves about the neighbors: they'revery quiet and only come around for sugar once in a blue moon.Visit her online at www.ilsajbick.com or adr3nalin3.blogspot.com and follow her on Facebook andTwitter @ilsajbick."