Earthquakes in Fiction

Today in history - On December 28th, 1908, the most destructive European earthquake struck Italy.  Here are ten books that feature earthquakes in some way.

Absence of Light by Zoe Sharp - There you were, just minding your own business, and suddenly the earth split beneath your feet. Everything good, everything familiar tumbles around you in busted shards, or it's ash, or is on fire. That's the scene of the earthquake where Charlie's working, helping to dig out the living and ID the dead. But it's an all-too-apt metaphor for her personal life. Book 11 in the Charlie Fox series 

The Disaster Days by Rebecca Behrens - Hannah Steele loves living on Pelling, a tiny island near Seattle. It's a little disconnected from the outside world, but she's always felt completely safe there.
Which is why when she's asked one day to babysit after school, she thinks it's no big deal. Zoe and Oscar are her next-door neighbors, and Hannah just took a babysitting class that she's pretty sure makes her an expert. She isn't even worried that she left her inhaler at home.
Then the shaking begins.
The terrifying earthquake only lasts four minutes but it changes everything, damaging the house, knocking out the power, and making cell service nonexistent. Even worse, the ferry and the bridge connecting the kids to help--and their parents--are both blocked. Which means they're stranded and alone... With Hannah in charge, as things go from bad to dangerous.

Eight Days by Edwidge Danticat - While Junior is trapped for 8 days beneath his collapsed house after an earthquake, he uses his imagination for comfort. Drawing on beautiful, everyday-life memories, Junior paints a sparkling picture of Haiti for each of those days--flying kites with his best friend or racing his sister around St. Marc's Square--helping him through the tragedy until he is finally rescued.

Goodnight, Boy by Nikki Sheehan - Wake up. Wake up, Boy. I'm bored. Time passes slowly in here, just you and me. It must be lunchtime. He will let us out soon." A tale of two very different worlds, both shattered by the loss of loved ones. Tragic, comic and full of hope, thanks to a dog called Boy. The kennel has been JC's home ever since JC's new foster father locked them inside. As the hours and days pass, JC tells Boy about how he came to his country: his family, the orphanage and the Haitian earthquake that swept everything away. How, after, his foster mother Melanie brought a new light into his life and brought him to her home country. He started to feel normal again. Until JC did something bad, so bad that he and Boy were banished to the kennel. Now their foster father is getting sicker, Melody still isn't home, and JC and Boy realize that they have to try to escape.

In Times Gone By by Tracie Peterson - After getting left at the altar, Kenzie Gifford flees to San Francisco to start her life over, determined never to love again. She's made new friends and has a good job in the office of her cousin's chocolate factory. The only thorn in her side is Dr. Micah Fisher, who insists on pursuing her despite her constant rejection. Then the Great 1906 Earthquake strikes the city, and everything changes. The devastation all around her makes Kenzie reevaluate her outlook on life--and possibly even her feelings for Micah. But then her world is rocked again when her ex-fiancé appears, full of apologies and determined to win her back. But Arthur already broke her heart once. Does she dare trust him again? The sudden arrival of a hidden danger will expose the motivations of all involved, but it could cost Kenzie her life--as well as her heart. Book 3 in the Golden Gate Secrets series 

The Incense Game by Laura Joh Rowland - When a massive earthquake devastates Japan in 1703, even the shogun's carefully regulated court is left teetering on the brink of chaos. This is no time for a murder investigation--except when a nobleman's daughters are found dead from incense poisoning and their father threatens to topple the regime unless Sano Ichiro tracks down the killer.

Not Quite Enough by Catherine Bybee - After an earthquake and tsunami hit the shores of Jamaica, Monica volunteers her trauma skills with Borderless Nurses. Calculating and methodical, Monica creates order out of whatever chaos she finds-- until she finds the perpetually barefoot, impossibly masculine Trent Fairchild. He's a pilot and manages a small fleet of choppers on his adopted island home. Hopelessly drawn to one another, they manage to slip away from the wreckage to get a little closer. And they get a lot closer than expected when aftershocks from the earthquake trap them in their own life-or-death scenario ... Book 3 in the Not Quite series 

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee - Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from poverty in Chinatown, and she gains admittance to a prestigious finishing school through a mix of cunning and bribery. She soon discovers that getting in was the easiest part, and must carve a niche among the spoiled heiresses. When the earthquake strikes on April 18, Mercy and her classmates are forced to a survivor encampment, but her quick-witted leadership rallies them to help in the tragedy's aftermath.

The Renegades by Tom Young - Joining troops to deliver aid to an earthquake-decimated region of Afghanistan, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Parson and his interpreter, Sergeant Major Sophia Gold, confront a Taliban splinter group that is shooting aid workers and everyone who accepts help. Book 3 in the Parson and Gold series 

A World Below by Wesley King - Mr. Baker's eighth grade class thought they were in for a normal field trip to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. But when an earthquake hits, their field trip takes a terrifying turn. The students are plunged into an underground lake...and their teacher goes missing.
They have no choice but to try and make their way back above ground, even though no one can agree on the best course of action. The darkness brings out everyone's true self. Supplies dwindle and tensions mount. Pretty and popular Silvia does everything she can to hide her panic attacks, even as she tries to step up and be a leader. But the longer she's underground, the more frequent and debilitating they become. Meanwhile, Eric has always been a social no one, preferring to sit at the back of the class and spend evenings alone. Now, he finds himself separated from his class, totally by himself underground. That is, until he meets an unexpected stranger.

Back to School - High School Edition

Back to school, part 2: high school edition!

Everyone Dies in the End by Brian Katcher - At seventeen, Sherman Andrews has been accepted in the Missouri Scholars' Academy. Sherman has had a ten-year plan since he was eight, and he is determined to become an award-winning investigative journalist. He is going places, unlike his low-brow plumber father or his absent mother. While researching his first project, a chance discovery of a mysterious photograph of four men, dated 1935, leads to Sherman uncovering records of deaths, disappearances, and cover-ups on an almost unbelievable scale. The organization responsible is still around, and they're prepared to take drastic measures to keep him quiet.

The Fall of Grace by Amy Fellner Dominy - After a shocking secret about her mother is exposed and everyday life is turned upside down, Grace embarks on an adventure, searching for answers about her family's current situation. But, she gets more than she bargained for when it turns out that she isn't the only one looking for clues. 

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver - After coming out as nonbinary, Ben must leave home and goes to live with a sister and her husband to finish the last year of high school.
When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents' rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile for the last half of senior year in a new school. Then fellow student Nathan Allan decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan's friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change. It might just be a chance to start a happier new life.

The Impossible Vastness of Us by Samantha Young - Hiding the secrets of her past after moving into the Boston home of her wealthy blended family, India discovers that her new stepsister is struggling with private realities that contrast with the veneer of her high-profile romance.
India has been hiding the secrets of her past after moving into the Boston home of her wealthy blended family. She discovers that her new stepsister Eloise is struggling with private realities that contrast with the veneer of her high-profile romance with Finn.

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli - When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat--but real life isn't always so rhythmic.
She's an anomaly in her friend group: the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she's bisexual, she hasn't mustered the courage to tell her friends--not even her openly gay BFF, Simon.
So Leah really doesn't know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high.
It's hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting--especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended. Book 2 of 2 in the Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda series

The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee - As one of only two aromateurs left on the planet, Mimosa knows her future holds a lifetime of using her sense of smell to mix base notes, top notes, and heart notes into elixirs that help others fall in love-- while she remains alone. Mimosa dreams of a normal high school existence and having a boyfriend, but falling in love would take away her talent. When she accidentally gives an elixir to the wrong woman, she must rely on the high school soccer star for help... and discovers that sometimes falling in love isn't a choice....

Sleeping in My Jeans by Connie King Leonard - Homeless and alone on the streets, sixteen-year-old Mattie Rollins and her six-year-old sister, Meg, race to discover the fate of their missing mother.
Mattie Rollins plans to ace her advanced high school courses, earn a college scholarship, and create a new life for herself and her family. There's no time for distractions-- no friends, no fun, and especially no boys. But her brilliant plan crumbles when the family becomes homeless and her mother disappears. Mattie and her kid sister Meg are living in a station wagon, trying to live, and looking for the truth behind their mother's disappearance. 

The Way The Light Bends by Cordelia Jensen - Virtual twins Linc and Holly were once extremely close. But while artistic, creative Linc is her parents' biological daughter, it's smart, popular Holly, adopted from Ghana as a baby, who checks all the boxes of their family's high standards for success. Linc is desperate to pursue photography and longs to be accepted for who she is, despite her surgeon mother's constant disapproval and her growing distance from Holly. So when Linc comes up with a plan using photography to boost her performance in school, she is excited and determined to prove that her differences are assets and that she has what it takes to make her mother proud. But when a long-buried family secret comes to light, Linc must reconsider where it is she truly belongs. A powerful novel in verse about fitting in, standing out, and defining your own self-worth, The Way the Light Bends challenges the ways in which we think about success, and reminds us of all it means to be a family.

When Summer Ends by Jessica Pennington - Aiden, former star pitcher and golden boy of Riverton, and Olivia, whose life is falling apart, connect during the last summer of high school as both seek a new direction.
All-star pitcher Aiden Emerson is the all-around golden boy of Riverton... or at least he was, before he quit the team the last day of junior year without any explanation. How could he tell people he's losing his vision at seventeen? Straight-laced Olivia had life all figured out... until her dream internship falls apart, her estranged mother comes back into her life, and her long-time boyfriend ghosts her right before summer break. Each struggling to find a new direction, they decide to live summer by chance, with fleeting adventures and stolen kisses.

Wild Blue Wonder by Carlie Sorosiak - Last June, the summer camp Quinn's family owns in Winship, Maine, was still a magical place, and Quinn fell in love with her best friend, Dylan. Then the accident happened. Now it's winter; the magic has drained from Quinn's life. The new boy in town, Alexander, doesn't see her as the monster she believes herself to be. And as Quinn lets herself open up again, she begins to understand the truth about love, loss, and monsters-- real and imagined.