Any Sign of Life (Paperback)
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Staff Reviews
Any Sign of Life by one of my long-time favorite YA writers, Rae Carson, is a must-read dystopian-sci-fi mash up that has so many twists and turns that I could not have stopped reading late into the night even if you’d paid me a million dollars. Carson taps into our deepest pandemic fear, not the one where we die but the one where we wake up alone. It’s almost a relief to slowly realize the virus in question wasn’t created here on earth. The sci-fi action kicks in and a battle to save our planet from invaders ensues. Main character Paige is a high school senior with a basketball scholarship to UConn when everything she knows crumbles away, and she’s suddenly stuck in a new reality. She’s a leader, and no doubt she’s brave, but it’s her loyalty and fierce determination not to lose her humanity that will make readers want to take this treacherous journey along with her. The supporting characters are a diverse group, and best of all is Paige’s seriously sweet romance in the midst of chaos. Fans of Neal Shusterman’s Dry will definitely want to move this to the top of their TBR list next October.
— Jenny Chou
Quite possibly the only people alive in their hometown, three teens drive toward Sandusky, OH, where a single radio station is still broadcasting. The broadcaster urges everyone to make their way to the station immediately. Great end-of-world construction tossed with touches of horror and humor. The first book in a new series, this will be a chart-topper.
— Kay WosewickDescription
“Any Sign of Life is a heartbreaking story filled with courage, friendship, and personality. Paige Miller is the perfect team-up buddy in an apocalypse. I was with her when she lost everything, and stood right next to her when she took it all back.”—Wesley Chu, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of the War Arts Saga
“A timely update to classic postapocalyptic YA.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A smart, suspenseful thriller. Totally un-put-down-able.”—Kirkus Reviews
When a teenage girl thinks she may be the only person left alive in her town—maybe in the whole world—she must rely on hope, trust, and her own resilience. A harrowing and pulse-pounding survival story from New York Times–bestselling author Rae Carson. Any Sign of Life is a must-have for readers of Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave and Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman’s Dry.
Paige Miller is determined to take her basketball team to the state championship, maybe even beyond. But as March Madness heats up, Paige falls deathly ill. Days later, she wakes up attached to an IV and learns that the whole world has perished. Everyone she loves, and all of her dreams for the future—they’re gone.
But Paige is a warrior. She pushes through her fear and her grief and gets through each day scrounging for food, for shelter, for safety. As she struggles with her new reality, Paige learns that the apocalypse did not happen by accident. And that there are worse things than being alone.
New York Times–bestselling author Rae Carson tells a contemporary and all-too-realistic story about surviving against the odds in this near-future thriller. Any Sign of Life will electrify fans of Rory Power’s Wilder Girls and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven.
About the Author
Rae Carson is the author of two bestselling and award-winning trilogies, as well as the acclaimed stand-alone novels Any Sign of Life and The Empire of Dreams. Her debut, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, was named a William C. Morris Award finalist and an Andre Norton Award finalist. Walk on Earth a Stranger was longlisted for the 2015 National Book Award and won the Western Writers of America Spur Award. Her books tend to contain adventure, magic, and smart girls who make (mostly) smart choices. Originally from California, Rae Carson now lives in Ohio with her husband. www.raecarson.com
Praise For…
“Any Sign of Life is a heartbreaking story filled with courage, friendship, and personality. Paige Miller is the perfect team-up buddy in an apocalypse. I was with her when she lost everything, and stood right next to her when she took it all back.” — Wesley Chu, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of the War Arts Saga
"The mechanics of coping bloom into much more in this deeply humanizing near-future survival thriller . . . Basketball player Paige Miller, 17, barely remembers getting sick. But when she wakes up emaciated from a six-day flu, she finds a grim scene: carrion birds, power outages, and her family dead in a world gone silent . . . Carson tempers a grim, death-laced future with pragmatism, an athlete’s awareness of bodily limits, and an uplifting belief in people’s capacity for good. Fans of Megan Crewe and Susan Beth Pfeffer will relish this timely update to classic postapocalyptic YA.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“High school senior and WNBA hopeful Paige wakes up from a coma to find herself the only living person in her Columbus, Ohio, neighborhood. . . . [A] smart, suspenseful thriller. . . . Paige’s tenacity is appealing, and her relatable first-person narration shines when observing tiny details of her surroundings and matter-of-factly processing topics like privilege, menstruation, and reproductive rights. . . . Totally un-put-down-able.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Carson steeps her writing in the physicality of bodies and societies breaking down . . . [Any Sign of Life] mines the very real fears seeded by COVID for tension . . . [and] it’s almost a relief, then, when the plot takes a marked turn into science fiction and focuses on the adrenaline rush of surviving a direct violent attack and not an insidious pathogen. While the immediate threat is eventually vanquished, there’s no guarantee of long-term safety, a disquieting situation readers may recognize.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"As soon as Paige Miller wakes with a pulsing headache and parched mouth, she knows something's wrong. . . . Eventually, Paige comes across other survivors, Trey and Tanq, and they follow a lead to Sandusky for answers. The truth, however, about why they survived, where the virus came from, and what the future holds may not be something they're ready for. Carson has created a terrifying postapocalyptic world marred by the scent of rotting flesh and a threatening new entity. . . . Stories such as this are sure to have readers thinking about their own purposes, impacts, and legacies.” — Booklist
“Ohio high school senior Paige wakes up from what she thought was just a bout of flu to discover that the sickness she has lived through seems to have killed off everyone else. . . . Carson delivers a solid end-of-the-world thriller full of vivid imagery and strong emotions. . . . Small details . . . and a clear sense of place bring the story to life. Identity issues are naturally incorporated into the narrative, showing that race and sexuality . . . still matter even as humanity is struggling to survive.” — Horn Book Magazine
“Carson has crafted an apocalypse so real it could happen tomorrow . . . With high stakes and a fast-paced survival plot line, sharp prose carries the novel . . . Vivid and well-crafted.” — School Library Journal