Welcome to New York ruled by teens
The Young World by Chris Weitz
When and where?
The book takes place in modern day New York, it is making the reader imagine that all the adults disappear and us middle schoolers and high schoolers have to figure out how to survive. When I say modern day I mean right now, but n the book it has been going on for a few months. Although the apocalypse is not just happening in New York, but all around the world, it focuses on New York. Some key places in New York include Washington Square Park and Long Island.
Key Places
Washington Square Park
This is where you are introduced into the book, this is the home base where you spend the first quarter of the book. The author introduces you into the characters and how they have survived for the first months of apocalypse. The author tells the reader how that the teens have divided into different factions, some peaceful and some not so peaceful. So this place may not be so important, but for the time spent their I have included it. They show how the clan of Washington Square Park that the main characters come from is peaceful. They live in the apartments around the park and have walls to protect themselves.
Central Park
Although there are many places in the book that they go to I chose this one to put in because it represents the middle of the book, the turning point, etc. After the first part of the book the main characters set out on a journey to find a cure and bring the adults back. It is such a mish mash of places that it was hard to choose one place to put in. There was around one chapter at every place. I chose Central Park because this is when the characters realize where the cure might be and they set out on a journey to find it.
Long Island
This is towards the last quarter of the book. They spend most of their time here at the end of the book with the last adult alive trying to find a cure. This man was a geneticist and realized the only way to survive was to inject himself with teenage steroids. The reason I chose this place as important is because this is where the teens find a cure and see the return of the adults. As the book cuts of here, the reader does not find out what happens to the characters or the world.
Mood/Atmosphere
Now I feel that the mood in my book is very stereotypical of a dystopian book, suspense and apocalyptic. In many parts of the book the characters are in danger of death or severe injury. At the end of the book there blood is being drained in search for a cure. I know there is more descriptive ways of saying these things, but I can't think of anything that would describe it better than suspenseful.
The effect of the setting on the characters.
The setting in this book is very unforgiving, there are always people you have to watch out for and animals that are just set to kill mode. This makes the characters always on edge and jittery too. Another thing is that they will be determined, this is because some characters do die in the book. They may not be the main characters, but they mattered to the book. It makes sound like the characters were driven by grief.
The effect of the setting on the plot.
Like I said before the setting is very unpredictable, like someone you think is your friend could turn out to be your worst enemy who was trying to take advantage of you. I feel as the reader that the plot and the setting do not cross paths that much in this book, but here are some examples. When there is a collapsed bridge that is covered with deadly animals that escaped from the central park zoo it forces the characters to ally with another clan to use their boat to navigate up Long Island. This makes it so they get sneaked up on later in the book which leads to their capture. Although eventually this leads to the discovery of a cure.
My English Setting Board Project for Mrs. Stanley's 2nd Period Class - Reed Gallant
A Book Trailer
The Young World Book Trailer