THE SKY SO HEAVY

by Claire Zorn

[Blurb:  For Fin, it's just like any other day - racing for the school bus, bluffing his way through class, and trying to remain cool in front of the most sophisticated girl in his universe, Lucy. Only it's not like any other day because, on the other side of the world, nuclear missiles are being detonated. From an exciting new voice in Australian YA literature, Claire Zorn, comes a haunting novel, The Sky So Heavy - a mesmerising story inspired by the continued debate over Australia's treatment of asylum-seekers and how a line through a map can determine your fate.]

This was a great little YA fiction that had me thinking. Set in Australia, with the threat of nuclear testing going on in Asia,  most people go about their life without any thought of the impending disaster, but when the missiles testing goes wrong, Australia is suddenly thrown into an fight for survival. The sky does dark, snow is suddenly falling (which could be radioactive) as the temperature drops to freezing, families are separated and supplies are running out. Where is the army to help with food and reassurance?... there's none... and it's every man for themselves. As people start to get sick and die, Fin and his friends must try to head for the city to where his mother is more than likely heading up the Australian response team, but will they make it through without being killed and will she be able to provide them with the safety they need? It's go, go, go in this story and made me think how far I would go if my life and my family was in danger.