Review: The Apocalypse Journal of Wilmer Augustine Rendon (The 2012 Journals)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2012
I absolutely LOVED this book and the writing style and voice.  I swear I heard my own kids while reading some of the passages - so realistic.The story is about a boy, Wilmer, who is given an assignment, to write a journal as part of the preparedness for the End of the World that is expected to take place on Dec 21, 2012.  The entire world is making preparations and watching for the four signs that the world truly will end as the Mayan calendar says.Wilmer's father was killed on a plane crash thus his mom has the insurance money to spend to start building a bunker where she and Wilmer are going to survive the end of the world.  Wilmer's entries refer to daily life, world events, his mom and her builder and the trials of the bunker, and his take on whether this is actually going to happen along with whether he is going to get a date for the "last dance of the world".  It builds from the occasion news story to the building hysteria from a mature teenager's point of view.The writing voice is not childish - it is mature, sarcastic at times, and you feel like you are truly part of what is going on in Wilmer's life and the world around him.  I was so caught up that I read it in one sitting (literally - the kids can always eat out of the dog's bowls if they get that hungry and there is water in the pantry so don't call CPS yet) because I had to see how this ended.I was not expecting how it ended which made it an even better book since you can usually figure out where it is going.I strongly recommend this book for readers of all ages - you will enjoy it as an adult and get insight of how a child would think of this type of situation and a teenager would be caught up in the drama as well. I would not let my 10 yr old read it because I think it would give her nightmares worrying about 2012 but my 15 yr old yr read it and enjoyed it as well.I look forward to more books by this author!