What would you do?

By Nicholas I.

Brought up in a much older time, Pat Frank is one of my favorite authors to read. He talks about situations that could actually come about, and uses realistic detail to keep you interested. His novel, Alas Babylon, depicts a post-atomic war theme talking about the events of an atomic war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The protagonist, Randy Bragg, is the leader of what’s left of his town after a nuclear war and needs to figure out what to do.

Randy Bragg has just became in charge of his brother’s kids during the middle of the Cold War. Mark Bragg, an officer in the Air Force, warns his brother Randy that nuclear war is going to break out. Mark lives in Omaha, so he sends his wife and his children to live with Randy in the isolated Florida town of Fort Repose. The next morning, war breaks out, and nuclear weapons destroy all of Florida's major cities. Fort Repose was completely separated from the rest of the country, wiping out all power and communication.

Bad things begin to happen in the town. People are going crazy and starting to attack, and there’s not much you can do to stop it. Luckily, Randy and his friends live in the ex-president’s house with a connection of fresh water and fish. Eventually radiation poisoning breaks out, and doctors can’t fix it. Randy decides he has to deal with this problem on his own or all the people he loves will die. Someone has to fix this and Randy is the leader of the town.

All of Frank’s work is very realistic and well written. Some of his other work, like Mr. Adam is a good example. In this story, he takes a realistic situation and uses factual examples to make it even more interesting. Randy’s determination to rebuild is town is unreal and makes reading the book so much more exciting. The ending of the book comes out of no where, but doesn't make it any less of a great read. It shows how far teamwork and support can bring you and what motivation can do for you.

I haven’t read all of Frank’s work, but this is my second book of his that i have enjoyed. I was not aware he wrote Mr. Adam when i started Alas Babylon, but when i found out it made a lot of sense. Pat Frank writes about situations that could happen any day in the real world and this book is a perfect example. I would recommend this book to all high school kids looking for something exciting. You can find this book at your city’s public library or your school’s media center.