This book is told from the perspective of Nonie, a young girl born after the glaciers melted and the seas rose, the World As It Is, as she calls it. She's only ever heard stories of the World As It Was. She lives with her father, sister and a small community of scientists on the roof of New York's Natural History Museum, refusing to leave without saving some of the history and artifacts preserved there. Nonie has an interesting connection to water and can feel when storms are coming, but the hypercane hit with no warning destroying their home, knocking out the flood gates holding back the ocean, forcing them to escape the city in a small canoe with only four survivors. Along their way to discover a new place they can call home, they encounter communities both helpful and hostile, ever stronger storms and natural disaster, and the struggle to survive with little to no food or water.
I loved reading the story from this young girl's unique perspective, as someone who didn't know anything different. She's lost so many people she cared about and the chapters jump back and forth between the past others told her about, her life growing up in the Museum, and trying to survive after they lost their home. The story starts off a little slow to give some background, but once I got into it I was fascinated. The beautiful and terrifying cover of a city underwater was what drew me in, but the story inside was even better!
