Z for Zachariah

Written by Robert C. O'Brien

Narrated by Christina Moore

Something terrible has finally happened. A nuclear holocaust has destroyed civilization. For one whole year, 16-year-old Ann Burden has lived alone on her family's farm, somehow sheltered from the radiation in the valley. As she hears the final radio station going off the air, she believes she is the only person left alive. But when Ann sees smoke from a faraway campfire, she knows there is at least one other survivor. Soon an incredible figure wearing a green suit and carrying an oxygen tank appears on the road. With the intruder in her valley, she makes a chilling discovery: there are worse things than being alone. Newbery Award-winning author Robert C. O'Brien won an Edgar Award for this suspense-filled science fiction tale of a young woman determined to survive on her own terms. Narrator Christina Moore places you on the scene with Ann in a strange world with an unknown future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781464012907

Robert C. O'Brien

Robert C. O’Brien (1918–1973) was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Williams College and graduated from the University of Rochester. He was a writer and editor for Newsweek, National Geographic, and other publications. He lived in New York City and then in Washington, DC, with his wife and four children. Z for Zachariah—which is now a major motion picture starring Margot Robbie, Chris Pine, and Chiwetel Ejiofor—was completed by his wife and daughter, with the help of his notes, after his death. He is also the author of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and The Silver Crown.

Reviews for Z for Zachariah

[lesindy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've read dumb characters before, but holy hell she takes the cake. Ann is one dumb teenager, and I know this book was written a long time ago, but damn!

[uh8myzen_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

All in all this was not a bad read, but it is dated by the scientific elements of nuclear war. In the period of this novel completion, the full ramifications of nuclear war had not been adequately explored, and it was not until the early eighties that issues such as nuclear winter were beginning to be fully understood. In other words, as horrible as authors such as Robert O'Brien thought a nuclear war would be, the reality was much worse.This maybe the reason that I was unable to fully engage with the novel and fully "suspend my disbelief," (for example, I kept asking myself about fallout, why the rain was not contaminated and why there were sunny skies at all). However, even with these issues, I found the book enjoyable, and I was genuinely interested to find out how our heroine would resolve her problems (vague enough... don't want to give anything away).Overall, it was a good read, even though its premise was scientifically dated. Normally, things like this do not bother me, but for some reason, it kept pulling me out of the story and that's why I only give it three stars, but I still say its a good story with some interesting thematic qualities as well.

[pandoragreen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Somewhat grim and definitely not for the very young. I found this post-apocalyptic novel surprisingly dark and depressing compared to the author's other children's books. He has a knack for describing the details of survival, always interesting, and slightly reminiscent of the Silver Crown in this one aspect.

[kristensheley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was shocked I'd never read this book until recently. For years, I've collected post-apocalyptic books. Ever since I was a soph in high school, I've been fascinated with end-of-the-world lit, especially ones that involve a nuclear holocaust. Yet I had never come across this book in spite of conducting a lot of research to find books in this unusual genre.The story is told in the POV of Ann Burdan, a teenager living alone on her family's farm after a nuclear holocaust. Her family left one day to look for survivors and never returned, likely killed by the radioactivity that lay beyond the protected valley of the farm. For about a year she's alone, then a man comes by. He's sick, so at first Ann nurses him and cares for him. Once he's all better, he slowly starts taking over her life, forcing her out of her home and into the woods nearby.I was rather surprised by the sinister turn the book had. (Ann is almost raped at one point, though the book is fairly subtle about this and never uses that word.) I thought for sure that she and Mr. Loomis (the man) would team up and work together. When that didn't happen, it surprised me.In spite of a lot of passages that described survival -- how the cooking was done, the farming, etc -- I was riveted enough that I read the book almost in one sitting. The end isn't as pessimistic as I feared it would be, but it wasn't the same kind of optimistic end that "Alas, Babylon" (another post-nuke classic piece of lit) has.

[dianepx2014 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The author does a good job of making the story interesting even though it only has two human characters. I found it abit unbelievable at first and I wondered when this all happened because it was abit contradicting. For example, it says very modern terminlogy like "nuclear", "test tubes", "suit that prevents nuclear exposure"... and also says very old fashioned things like "feeding the chickens and cows" and "sowing the seeds". It also does not say a word about "iPods" or "Macs". In overall, this book was well written and every reader cannot put this book down because they want to find out what happened to Mr.Loomis and Ann at the end of the book.

[akamarian_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Z for Zachariah is an compelling story. The first person narrator, Ann (through her diary), doles out information bit by bit, and it is only slowly and in fits and starts that the reader learns what has happened to the world and nearly everyone in it. The idea that Ann and Mr. Loomis may be the last people alive and the valley is possibly the last place on earth that can sustain life gives the reader a slightly claustrophobic feeling. O’Brien’s descriptions illustrate the valley, Ann’s farm, the general store and church vividly. So although the situation may be confining, the details O’Brien uses to show each distinct place in the valley makes it seem like the whole world. In this way he deftly makes the reader understand how a person’s perspective can adjust to extraordinary circumstances. The characters are realistic; they react to an incredible situation in a way that’s believable -- and very interesting. Young adults won’t be able to put this book down until they’ve found out how the situation between Ann and Mr. Loomis ends.

[dancook_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Creepy and threatening, and really rather good.

[mmadamslibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Classic young adult book about a 16 year old survivor of a nuclear holocaust and the man she encounters. Ann is a farm girl and very resourceful. I'm not sure that any "city" folk would do as well or have the skills she uses to survive. The ending has a great twist that would lead to a lot of discussion

[lamson_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A post-apocalyptic in which a young girl survives a nuclear war because she lives in a sheltered valley. The rest her family leaves to try and find other survivors, but they never return. Soon she sees signs that there is another person alive and is coming toward her home. At first she is excited about having another person around, but he turns out to be much less than she hoped for. This book did not end the way I thought it would; it keeps the reader guessing until the last few pages.

[hredwards · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book!! Real page turner!!

[bridgey_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was meant to read this book in school but for some reason we read children of the dust instead.This novel at around 260 pages was around 200 pages too long. Very little happens, and to be honest it just feels like you want the character to curl up and die to save listening to any more of the whinging and teenage fantasy. The concept of the 'novel' is that a 16 year old girl and a scientist are possibly the only two people left alive in the world following a nuclear war. She is alive because her valley has, and I'm not joking, it's own weather system. The scientist because he has helped invent an anti radiation rubber suit.....He arrives at the valley and we have listen to various gushings from the girl of how she would like marry him under apple blossom etc etc..... never mind your family have been obliterated.... Things turn a sinister when the relationship sours, and so the story unfolds... poorly and slowly.....I don't know about Z for Zachariah... D for Depressing seems more suited.

[strider66_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pros: tight, tense storytelling, interesting charactersCons: limited world-buildingFor parents: no content (swearing, sex, drugs), minor gun violenceFifteen year old Ann Burden has been living - alone - in her family’s farmhouse for the past year. Her family - and as far as she knows everyone else in the world - is dead, victims of the war and the bombs that fell. So she has mixed emotions when she sees a column of smoke each night, getting closer to the valley that’s protected her. She knows someone is coming. But what does this arrival mean for her? This is a short novel, told through Ann’s journal entries starting when she first realizes someone is coming. It details his arrival and the slowly unfolding drama that occurs afterwards. It’s a tight, tense story, that slowly becomes dreadful as you wonder how everything will play out.It’s a story worth coming to with little advance knowledge, as it really depends on learning things with the character. I really liked Ann. She’s a farm girl - and so knows how to do things that are useful in a post-apocalyptic survival situation, like catch, prepare and cook fish, plogh a field, etc.There’s very little backstory. We learn where Ann’s family has gone and how the stranger arrives, but little else. There’s no information about what the war was about or who it was with or what kinds of bombs were dropped, beyond that they were highly radioactive.It’s a great story that kept me on the edge of my seat.

[booksandwine · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book follows Ann Burden, a 16 year old girl living in the aftermath of a nuclear/radiation war. Everyone she knows is gone or dead, so Ann is all alone. Eventually someone does come to Ann's valley.I thought this book went way too fast. It was haunting.Ann Burden was a likeable character and I felt she seemed real.

[benboo-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent read. Well written and engaging.

[spiceca_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

fantastic post-apocalyptic story told from a girls point of view. She is braver than I imagine I might be in her situation. Its at times terrifying and bleak but a solid read.

[angiestahl-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A friend sent me this because I'd never read or even heard of it. IMO, this should be required middle school or young high school reading. OG YA dystopian, with some sci fi elements that reads current despite its age. I wanted the ending to be different, but it was consistent with the character as we'd come to know her. A satisfying, quick and intelligent read--recommend!

[aimless22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For all she knows, Ann Butler is the only person left on earth. Her family farm lies in a valley that has always had its own weather due to its surrounding hills. That landscape saved the valley from the bombs. She has lived alone on this farm, with a church and a store the only other buildings in the valley, for almost a year. Then one day, she sees the smoke column of someone's fire, coming closer each day. She hides away in a cave and watches the approach.Who is this person in a weird green suit, towing a cart full of stuff?

[weeta-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

proof that you don't need zombies or gangs of "preppers gone wild" characters to create a suspenseful and fairly plausible post-apocalypse story.

[Taylor Shore · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

awsome you shell read it its awsomre you shell not pass

[norabelle414 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Almost-16-year-old Ann Burden is the last person on Earth, after her parents left their secluded valley to search for survivors in the post-apocalyptic outside world and never returned. She has lived alone for almost a year by maintaining their small family farm when she sees it - a thin tower of smoke in the distance, and coming closer every day. A strange man arrives in the valley, very sick with radiation poisoning. Ann must nurse him back to health...but if he survives, then what?It's hard to read this 1975 book objectively, knowing everything that comes after it. What is now a very familiar story was at the time brand new. Ann is no Katniss Everdeen or [9266506::Georgia Mason] or similar characters from [Room] or [How I Live Now]. She's not particularly feisty or scrappy or clever. She knows survival skills from her farm life before, but never mentions anything like a telephone or TV (nor a car?? Only a tractor) and does not seem to think much about romance or sex aside from animal husbandry. There are no books anywhere in her valley, aside from a Bible and some religious children's books. I found Ann's life pre-apocalypse to be much more of an enigma than post-apocalypse. (Side note: the very bad title of this book is a reference to a children's book that Ann reads listing Bible characters in alphabetical order. It's obviously connected to the idea that she's the last person in the world, but oof! It's such a turn-off.)As with Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, O'Brien wrote a revolutionary idea that has been oft-imitated, but the logic of his world-building leaves a lot to be desired. I found the ending particularly unsatisfying - She just lets him have the valley? For no reason? She could have killed him a hundred different ways but instead she leaves the valley with zero proof that anything has survived outside of it. She won't last a month. Another note: The author bio at the end of the book states that O'Brien's wife and daughter finished the book when he passed away, based on his notes. To me, "based on his notes" means they had a much larger role in the book than just the "editor" role they are usually recognized for.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Isn't it funny how men can show patience with a dog, but not a girl.

[shannaredwind_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very well written. I was completely drawn in to the story. The main character was very believable and sympathetic. I just felt so badly when she began losing everything that she'd worked so hard for. And when she had to leave, I almost cried.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys post apocalyptic fiction.

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book as a teenager, and it was nice to re-read it after all this time. Anne Burden is a 16 year old girl who has survived a nuclear war and lives in a valley that has somehow escaped the devastation. Having been brought up on a farm, she is able to plant and harvest crops, look after livestock, fish and shoot rabbits, so she survives pretty well for a year, until a stranger comes to the valley. She is possibly a bit too resourceful to ring true, but it's a good story anyway.

[cmwilson101 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Z FOR ZACHARIAH is a post-apocalyptic story that has haunted my thoughts over the years: what if you were the only survivor in the world, and then finally, finally you meet another survivor -- and he's a jerk? Is it better to be alone, or to be with someone you despise? Z FOR ZACHARIAH's Anne faces this question in an interesting, compelling story which is well worth reading.

[bookwormteri · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this as a teenager and am revisiting as an adult. The story translates so well and doesn't age. If anything, I think that this becomes more relevant as time passes. So scary and bleak, but the main character is tough as nails and I believe that she will survive no matter what. Mr. Loomis is one of the scariest characters in fiction. He is a horrible and evil person. This reminds you (along with The Walking Dead) that the people who survive may not be (and probably won't be) the nice guys.

[bonniemarjorie · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The expectations were high with this one. I first discovered this book when I found out it was being made into a movie so of course I was all about getting the book read first. Especially when I realized this author also wrote one of my favorites of all time: The Secret of Nimh. Naturally I couldn’t find a copy anywhere but FINALLY! Some luck blew my way and my library came through. I started it immediately. I finished it within 24 hours. And now I’m sad.First off, a few things you need to know. 1. This is a post-apocalyptic novel with not a whole lot of post-apocalyptic action going on. 2. If you picked this up based on the movie trailer, you’re going to be disappointed and/or confused because they have practically nothing in common. And 3. There’s some animal cruelty that for once didn’t actually make me cry. Nah. I was enraged instead.We’re introduced to Anne who is sixteen years old and has been living on her childhood farm alone for the past year now. She resides within a valley that because of an inversion has escaped the havoc that the rest of the world has suffered. Her parents and two brothers went out searching for survivors after the nuclear war that happened that we never get any other details of besides the fact that it happened. They never returned. She’s cultivated a garden, has cows and chickens to keep from starving, and fortunately there is also a country store nearby that was pretty well stocked. Anne has done a pretty amazing job surviving all on her own but is understandably curious when she sees smoke in the sky indicative of a campfire. She watches it day after day as it gets closer and closer to her farm; closer and closer to whoever is lighting the fire to discovering her home. She retreats to a nearby cave with her dog Faro to monitor the individual and determine whether or not to let him know there’s one other survivor besides him.John Loomis is a scientist from New York. His team was researching/developing radiation proof suits but there was only a single prototype in existence which is the only way he was able to survive the fallout from the bomb. Trudging through the remains of the Earth, he comes upon a strange sight: a green valley. After a year of walking, seeing nothing but Earth, the valley is a spectacular sight. He takes his helmet off and realizes he can breathe the air there as well. Unable to help himself, he dives into a small lake to bathe. Unfortunately, the stream that flows into that lake was still affected by radiation and he falls deathly ill.Z for Zachariah is actually an epistolary and is told via Anne’s journal entries. This style helped build Anne’s characterization and her day to day life before her peaceful valley was encroached upon, however, this style lacked in getting a proper feel on her emotions. She talks about her family that drove away, never to be seen from again, in a very disconnected almost robotic way. Even with passages she’s written immediately after shocking things happen, I still felt a disconnect from how it seemed like someone in her position would feel. It’s a post-apocalyptic book (much like recently read Blindness) which is more a study of human behavior rather than a focus on the reasoning behind the war that caused the devastation. This is all well and good but I felt the characters were very black/white with Anne being the good, wholesome girl and Loomis being the mysterious stranger that we never learn enough about to make his actions comprehensible. One could argue that his last year of surviving alone was enough to change him, however, Anne had to work just as hard to survive. The character study could have gone a bit deeper to better understand the inner-workings of these two characters since they were the only two characters in the book.I wanted to love this one so much but unfortunately it didn’t happen. I kept thinking that there would be some final twist but I reached the final page without it happening. The ending left me feeling very indifferent and just as emotionally disconnected as Anne. All in all, it’s not the worst post-apocalyptic book I’ve read but it’s certainly not the best.

[atticadayz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was a good book. I feel the author captured the true essence of being a teenager against unexpected odds. I was pulled into this book and the suspense was gripping. I would recommend for a short read.

[ft_ball_fn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The lead character is a girl. The books is short. The story doesn't really go into much aside from radiation damage to the surrounding area. All of these things should have make it a book that I didn't like. Nope--love it. An easy read.. the main character was someone you relate to right away.. and her plight in the story (as a stranger shows up in a radiation suit) hooks you right away. I wish there was a sequel.... a great book (but it was TOO SHORT!!) :)