The novel emphasizes how, no matter the circumstances, there's room for belief in a future.

Niccolò Ammaniti imagines the fallout of an epidemic fever in his gripping, post-apocalyptic Anna.

Anna will inspire comparison with The Lord of the Flies, given the classic novel's portrayal of a disintegrating society. But this twenty-first century take on catastrophic isolation is a less symbolic, more intimate account of sibling loyalty. When no one over the age of fourteen is left to impose order, Anna and her brother, Astor, survive in Sicily until his disappearance forces Anna away from their family farm to find him. Precious, splintered memories of a civilized past contrast brilliantly with a burned, lawless world.

Much of the plot centers on Anna's hunt for food. Populated with skeletons and feral dogs, the eerie landscape showcases the detritus that once belonged to the living. From photographs to tinned ragouts, clothing to half-charged batteries, what's left builds a portrait of mundane excess turned archaeological ruin.

Fittingly, Anna has little time to reflect. Despite the knowledge that she, too, may succumb to the virus, her concern remains with the day-to-day. A keen focus on the task at hand builds emotional resonance. Without dwelling on it, the work makes it clear how despair always lingers.

A matter-of-fact approach highlights tactile details, motion, and memories that are not so much bittersweet as they are simply rapidly receding. On occasion, death borders on the grotesque, but the book avoids bleakness. Remnants of things that once made life bearable, including music and fairy tales, offer necessary lightness. Even tribal allegiances formed by other children reveal vulnerability beneath the visceral nightmare. Pietro, a teen whose path briefly crosses Anna's, especially stands out as a reminder that people often possess an essential goodness that can't be extinguished.

Anna is wisely cast as neither an exceptional, heroic survivor nor a victim of history—she seems to do only what's necessary, possessing the capacity for both kindness and self-interest. Her humanity comes to the forefront again and again; it's an affirming aspect of the novel that emphasizes how, no matter the circumstance, no matter the brevity of one's life, there's room for belief in a future.

In this international best seller, Premio Strega winner Ammaniti (The Crossroads) imagines postapocalyptic devastation wrought by a virus, a scenario seen frequently in literature today but vivified here. Red Fever has swiftly dispatched all adults, leaving children to grow up alone until they become old enough to contract the disease and die. In scorching language, Ammaniti describes a desolate world in which Anna fights to protect her little brother, Astor, strictly following instructions left by their dying mother. Returning home after foraging for food, Anna finds that Astor has been kidnapped by a group of feral children and goes after him, befriending unaccountably sunny Pietro and a fierce black dog as they head for an abandoned hotel where the children think a mysterious personage called the Little Lady can save them. The uneasy balance between the hopefulness of companionship, particularly familial, and the bleak lack of future the children can anticipate drives this novel. VERDICT Literate suspense for most readers.

Ammaniti (I'm Not Scared) conjures a solemn dystopia in this picturesque view of a world gone wrong. Four years after a virus wipes out all adults, 13-year-old Anna Salemi spends her days foraging in the ruins of a Sicilian landscape ravaged by fires, looting, and violence. Dogs rove in packs, desperate for food, as do the nearly feral children who've been left behind, untouched by the Red Fever—until puberty strikes, and they become susceptible to the virus. Anna channels her energy into pursuing one goal: keeping her younger brother, Astor, alive and well. When other kids storm their farmhouse, Anna must choose to either fall into the despair afflicting the other children as they reach the end of their lives, or to strike out for an enigmatic sector known as the Strait in hopes of finding a cure. Although the story is bleak, Ammaniti focuses on the resilience of those striving to live the best lives they can. "In the end," one of his characters states, "what's important is not how long your life is, but how you live it." Ammaniti keeps this reminder at the heart of his rich, deceptively optimistic tale. (Mar.)