Ashfall by Mike Mullin

I am still here!  Just not reading as many teen books as before...and forgetting to put down the ones I do!  I'm also taking an opportunity to read some full series, instead of just the first book or two.

So...Ashfall. 

Alex is left alone for a weekend in his Cedar Falls home while his parents and younger sister head off to a family's home in Illinois.  Alex expects the weekend to be very low-key.  The world has other plans.  A volcano erupts at Yellowstone National Park and throws the entire world off-kilter.  The earthquake ruins Alex's home and the ashfall from the eruption causes total blackness.

Staying with the neighbors seems like the best option...until one of the men kills an intruder.  Scared and nervous, Alex takes off, determined to find his family on the other side of the Mississippi.  What he doesn't realize is how desperate people are or how determined to survive at the cost of everything.  Especially others' lives.

The scariest part about this story is the fact that it could happen.  While the book could have been a little shorter, it is definitely a page-turner.  Alex meets all sorts of obstacles along the way and while he's not afraid to take help, he becomes leery of it as the book moves on.  A good survivalist novel...there's a sequel on the way!