James Van Pelt: Summer of the Apocalypse

Eric is now 75 and the last in his community of the “Gone Timers”.  There is no one interested in the Gone Times, except for his grandson and another boy, Rabbitt.  His own son disagrees with his ideas of reclaiming the old knowledge and would rather hunt and scavenge.  Feeling restless and alone, Eric decides to take a hike to see what the rest of the world is like now.  He hasn’t taken a peek since he was 15, when the world of modern civilization ended, wiped out by a plague.

The book switches back and forth in time, between his 15th year and the present time.  And at one time, his older self crosses paths with his younger.  There is little to be said for the end of our civilization, it is now a wasteland and has quickly been forgotten by both the people and the land.  The older Eric sets about on his journey and on his first night out, finds himself awake on a table of rocks, surrounded by a curious wolf pack with whom he joins in song. 

This is a coming of age story, as well as one about fathers and sons.

-Leslie