When a power outage in her neighborhood lasts for days, not hours, Amber starts to wonder if the blackout will last forever. Months go by and her sixteenth birthday is completely different from anything she ever imagined it would be. Then, the government comes to take charge. However, what she hears from the authorities doesn’t match what she knows from the outside world. Can she find out the truth in time?

Life After was chosen by The Survival Mom for her February Book Club.

Discussions take place in a Facebook group.

I was a guest blogger for The Survival Mom for several years. It wrote several interesting articles, covering topics from gardening to preparing for tornadoes. One of my favorites, and a very popular post is “7 Reasons to Buy Old Cookbooks.” You can view all of my posts here.

Writing for The Survival Mom gave me the idea for the story of Life After. I was writing a lot of blog posts about prepping for disasters big and small. One of the most interesting disasters out there is a long-term power outage caused by solar flares. I chose this disaster as the backdrop for Life After.

Life After is actually the first novel I ever completed writing. However, it needed a lot of work. After I finished editing and publishing The Ring, I went to work to make Life After a finished product.

Many dystopian books are written for adults and feature a very dark world. I didn’t want to ignore the hardships of a long-term power outage, but I wanted a dystopian novel that my teens could read and that would give some hope in how humanity might act.

Amber is 15 when the lights go out and the first half of the book focuses on how the neighborhood comes together to survive. As power gets restored, the government needs people to work at the restoration headquarters and Amber volunteers so her family can have more food and credits for new appliances. Things are not quite what they seem when she starts working there, though.

“Too many dystopian books seem to assume virtually everyone will end up being a bad person and only out for themselves. Sarah Carter has written an engrossing book with a more realistic combination of people working together for community, only helping themselves, and taking advantage of the situation. The situation and solution were also unique among YA dystopian novels, making this an engaging read that didn’t have the obvious, well-worn plot-lines. It’s a good read for kids and adults. I definitely recommend it.” – B. Kim, Amazon review

Discussion Questions (Printable below)

1. What is the longest power outage you’ve experienced? How was the world different from your normal life? What did you do to adjust?
2. What would you miss most during a long-term power outage?
3. How would live be harder with no power? Easier?
4. What would your role be in your neighborhood during a loss of power?
5. Do you know how to tell a regular power outage from an EMP or solar flare outage?
6. What skills did you want to learn after reading this book?
7. Would you be tempted to go to a shelter like the mall in this book in the same situation? Why or why not?
8. Would you have wanted to go to AmVoc like Amber or would you have wanted to stay home?
9. In what ways did living so long without power prepare Amber for her time at AmVoc?
10. How likely do you think it is that someone in the government would divert resources for personal reasons?
11. What is a step you can take this week to make you and your family more prepared for an emergency situation?
12. How well do you think Amber will do relating to other students in college?How would your community (neighborhood) compare to Trebein?
13. Why about Amber helped her thrive?
14. As a parent, would you let your child go in that situation? Why or why not?

Here are The Survival Mom Book Club books for 2023.