“I am afraid.”

From Robert C. O’Brien’s Z for Zachariah.

After a nuclear war left America radiated beyond what anything could survive, one small valley created a miraculous safe haven from death.  Sixteen-year-old Ann has survived alone for months in the small valley by using the resources of her small family farm and the abandoned general store down the road.  The isolation of the valley that was Ann’s salvation is also the cause of her isolation, because while there are other towns and farms nearby, they are on the other side of the valley’s ridges.  When Ann notices a column of smoke moving closer to her valley, she is both terrified and excited for the person that is bound to notice and investigate her green, full-of-life valley.  When the man (Mr. Loomis) enters the valley in a radiation safe-suit, Ann hides in the woods to observe him for a few days and only gathers the courage to come out to meet him when he falls ill with radiation poisoning.  Ann nurses Mr. Loomis back to health and accepts his life on the farm as the new normal.  Mr. Loomis is able to provide many helpful ideas and plans to sustain life in the valley, but the longer he is there, the more control he tries to take over Ann and her life quickly falls apart.

The format that O’Brien uses acts as a journal entries composed by Ann really allow the narrator’s views to shine through and bring strong emotion to each page.  While the story is relatively simple with only two human characters and a handful of settings contained in the same valley, it is surprisingly complex with many developments and revelations of human nature.  The ending is very unsatisfying and will most likely anger any reader invested in the book, which is unfortunate because, overall, Z for Zachariah is a gripping thriller for readers of all ages.