Pretty good story of two teens, boy and girl, caught up with a religous cult who believe the end of the world will be on a specific date at the end of July. They spend two weeks on a mountaintop in Mass. ( )

Interesting story. Recommended by Elaine Harger at Mt. Si as book for middle schoolers to make them think. But I think it is too provocative for that age group. Kids don't really have any options to make decisions with - they are at the mercy of their par ( )

This book is about two teenagers' families and how they believe that it's going to be the end of the world. Their parents end up dragging them to a camp with their church to watch the world end and ascend into Heaven. The two teenagers don't want to be there and question their faith and God, they also end of falling in love.

The authors obviously split the work by writing the alternating chapters from the POV of Marina and Jed. The idea for the story (written 1998) was conceptually interesting (kids coping with parents engaged in rather frightening life-changing activities); but, first, I was never convinced these were "real" children rather than adults projecting their own perspective (an uncommonly ham-handed display with Yolen and Coville, based on what I've read from them before); and, second, I was very unconvinced that the authors had any first-hand or even second-hand knowledge of either religious Armageddon believers, or any particularly devout Christians at all.

Granted, their aim wasn't to explore deeply what leads adults into apocalyptic movements, but the reasons presented (and the kids' legitimate questions about God) that they did give were facile, shop-worn, and one-sided (that is, never presenting any of the many serious answers to those questions available outside of the comic-book view of fundamentalism).

In fine, book read like an exercise in conflating an updated Millerism with the Waco fiasco scaled down to kid-view, without actually addressing the core of either (because, what do kids know?).

The kids-in-action were okay; the adolescent romance was pure chick-lit. (this is what generated my lowered stars, BTW)

See here for a view that seems to accord with the Yolen/Coville approach.
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/twenty/tkeyinfo/apocal.htm

Note that actual evangelical apocalyptic believers would dispute some of the points herein, as being written by an un-believer with an academic axe.
IMO the article (actually a study guide) seems historically accurate, but is distinctly representative of the view from "outside" the original movements and their contemporary descendants. ( )

Jed and Marina end up camped out on a mountain with their families as they all await Armageddon with their minister. Looks at what beliefs mean, how and why people believe what they do.