num_pages: 192
description: The story begins on a May afternoon in England. The sirens wail and people panic - war has suddenly broken out between East and West and the bombs are falling. Very soon the war is over, and from that afternoon the world has changed forever... Louise Lawrence writes a convincing story about the end of an old world and the start of a new one. There are three main characters in the book: Sarah, Ophelia and Simon. Each of these characters represent their respective generation. Through these people we see how the war has affected their lives and the world around them.Sarah's story is about what it is like right after the nuclear holocaust, with Sarah, her step mother, and her half brother and sister sealed inside a dark house, and dealing with the effects of the radioactive fallout. "Ophelia" takes place a little later, in a bunker filled with people who have survived the holocaust. They try to maintain and uphold a civil society, and to prepare for the world that's waiting for them outside. The third story, "Simon" takes place decades after the war and we see a new species of human has emerged as a result of the contaminated world.--------------------------Cambridge Literature is a series of literary texts edited for study by students aged 14-18 in English-speaking classrooms. It will include novels, poetry, short stories, essays, travel-writing and other non-fiction. The series will be extensive and open-ended, and will provide school students with a range of edited texts taken from a wide geographical spread. It will include writing in English from various genres and differing times. Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence is edited by Ron Middleton, Wargrave Piggott School, Reading.
language: English
title: Children of the Dust
titlecomplete: Children of the Dust (Cambridge Literature)
genres: Fantasy, Apocalyptic, War, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Post Apocalyptic, Fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction
ratings_count: 2051
publisher: Cambridge University Press