Z for Zachariah (New Windmills) by Robert C. O'Brien (1976-10-25)

I rated the book, "Z for Zacharia", Two stars because the whole story is about Ann saying how she was planning to do all these plans that she has and then she never would do anything. I just got so bored with Ann and Mr. Loomis having their little war and Ann just kept letting Mr. Loomis beat up on her. I wish Ann took charge and stuck up for herself instead of taking the abuse from Mr. Loomis. It was a real disappointment. It was way too slow and nothing really happened. There wasn't really even a climax.I mean I thought the author was creative, but I think he should have taken more time and added more details. Well, that is the book.

This story had a lot more potenial, because I felt it built to anti-climax, in nearly every chapter. For instance in one chapter it started like this:- "I am in terrible trouble. Mr Loomis shot me." The author takes two more chapters till they desribe what happened. By the time I got to the part of the shooting, it had kind of lost it's ability to capture my attention.
If the book had got to the point a lot quicker I would have classified this book in an above average range.

This book is VERY detailed.The thought of nuclear war,being the last people on the planet(although the author never says anything about the rest of the world.)In my own opinion,it should be made into a movie.It has an eerie effect on the reader.I mean,how would you like it if you were the last person alive?I still think she shouldve found more survivors other than Mr.Loomis.Its just not right.But anybody should like this book.It will open peoples eyes on life and what it could be like after a holocaust.Id right more but Ive said my peace.

The movie and the book, are 2 completely different stories. Why didn't they change the title. This is a very good book. A horror story, about what a person will become when thrown into certain situations.

Z for Zachariah - All alone.
4 stars
Z for Zachariah is a good book to read as every chapter is interesting it is good for young or old. It is written by Robert C. O'Brien and he did a good job of this book. This book is set in a small valley town in the United States where a nuclear holocaust affects the world but this small little town. Everything outside of this town if dead and hardly anything left of it. The book is a diary style written by Ann Burden from May 20th to August 8th. Ann and John Loomis are the people on earth as far as they know. When Ann realised that everyone and nearly everything had gone she decided not to sulk or cry, but to not eat all the food get all the water she can and to save all the tin food as well. One day when Ann was in her house she realised that there was someone else alive in a radio-active suite. She studies him in a cave and then realises he is sick and goes and helps him. She cooks for him makes baths for him o be clean and helps him to live and survive. He is not the nicest person but they do get along. They have to set aside there differences and try to survive this nuclear holocaust and get all the food, water and anything that can help and rash in it out for basically there whole lives.
This book is fantastic and I advise anyone to read it as it is interesting and ha a good story line to it. You will have to read to find out what happens to Ann Burden and the last man on earth - John Loomis.
Josh-Australia Year 9

Imagine trying to avoid something you can't smell, see, or taste. This is just what Ann Burden does in Z For Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien. She tries to avoid radiation and she is stuck in a safe haven. Fortunately, she has lived in that safe haven all of her life and had other people until they left and never come back. So she thinks that she is the only one alive in the world. Which maybe she is but maybe she isn't.

In this book, the plot was good. But it was very interesting because something rare happened. She was stuck in a place with very good resources for surviving like shelter and stuff and all was great.....for awhile.

What I liked about this book was how I could see the scenes so well and so vividly. The scenes weren't just clear they were very pretty. A couple of times I caught myself thinking I was actually there and realizing I wasn't when I walked into someone. But also this book has many emotions it's a little funny but it's also very sad and at times I was very worried for the characters. There are also only two characters in this book which is to why it was so surprising of how good and interesting it was. I recommend this book if you like books that have a lot of action scenes that are spaced evenly throughout the book.

Most of the negative reviews were written by people who were 'forced' to read this book via assignment. They were probably pissed about having to read ANY book. The fact that O'Brien was able to tell a suspenseful story through nothing but after-the-fact diary entries is impressive. I couldn't put this book down. The monotonous details laboriously explained in the early entries reveal character development through subtleties, forcing the reader to discover them. For instance, I didn't even know the character was female until she lamented in an early entry about only having access to men's clothing. The detail oriented descriptions about daily activities early on also create a very jarring, unnerving effect when the routine is broken. If you're looking for another pop culture novel homogenized for mass consumption choose Stephenie Meyer or Dan Brown. But if you're interested in a subtly layered and compelling story illustrating the literary prowess of a writer taken far too young, give Z for Zachariah a shot.

I just looked up this book because I remember reading it when I was in 5th grade and loving it. Despite the serious content, it is a great story and very memorable. I looked it up to buy for my kids. I wanted to write this review since one of the reviewers obviously couldn't get into a kid's head and was so ardently against this book. I am a peace lover so this "violent" book obviously did not harm me as a child; you get those values from your family and life experiences, not from a book of fiction! Great reading for a 5th grader.

I, just like many of the other reviewers, read this book as an 8th grade assignment. I must say that this was one book I would definitely read again. Although it did get "just a tad bit" boring in a few areas I still give it a 5 star rating, because of the fact that I could not put it down. I was not a very avid reader as child and quite honestly I can not remember any other book I read in school except for this one. Z for Zachariah kept me interested throughout.

My 12 year old step-son was just mentioning to me all the books he has had to read for his summer reading program, and I recommended this one to him. He will be entering the 8th grade this school year. I immediately logged on to the store to try and find it for him. He is very into the science fiction type reading so I thought this would be perfect for him. I think when he is finished reading it I am going to steal it from him so that I can read it again. ;)

O'Brien did a wonderful job on this and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a gripping and compelling story.

Z For Zachariah is a great book written by Robert C. O'Brien. This book fills you with excitement beggining with a nuclear war which leades to a family named the Burdens the only people left on earth. When a the Burden's leave to go get something they never come back and she was left by herself. Ann finds out that someone else is alive. The person that was still alive was John Loomis "a scientist". John'a behavior becomes confrontation, Ann must now choose how she lives her life.

This novel starts with so much promise but became very frustrating to read as it is increasingly unbelievable the further along you get. Number one is what happened to Nuclear Winter? I'm supposed to believe that the weather and all that accompanies nuclear war just didn't happen I guess. Putting that aside I found it frustrating that our heroine is such a passive protagonist and finds it necessary to leave her home because she can't find it in herself to kill the man trying to enslave her. I'm not sure anyone would react that way given the circumstances, even back in the time period that the author wrote this book. I wanted it to be a better read it just wasn't.

In my opinion, "Z for Zachariah" earns one out of five stars. I did not like the book because it seemed very dark and depressing. It was hard to read, as it was very frustrating. The ending was very disappointing because it seemed thrown together. It could have been a lot better. The book was about a girl in her teen years, named Ann Burden. There was a nuclear war, causing the radiation to kill everything surrounding her, including her family. Her small valley, where she was living alone, was the only thing not destroyed. One day, she meets a man coming to the valley. He was a scientist, named Dr. John Loomis, who kept himself save from the radiation through a "safe suit". She at first has dreams of marrying him, but those are soon crushed when he acts in violent, cruel, and harsh ways. The novel affects the plot by making an untrusting relationship between the two. She must find a way to survive. What will she do?

I believe that the setting greatly affected this book. The setting probably affected Dr. Loomis's behavior. Since it was safe from radiation, he knew he could survive. He got too comfy, as it was technically Ann's valley, and acted in unfriendly ways. Since it was just the two of them, he knew he had the most power. He was a man, which meant he was stronger than Ann. If the story had taken place in a big city with a lot of people, he most likely wouldn't have done that. There would be other people to stop it, but in their valley there wasn't. He would have had his own space, and they could have kept their distance. The valley was small, and they didn't have that opportunity there. This was important in the book, as it affected the storyline.

The point of view in the book was from Ann. It was written in journal format. Through her eyes, Dr. Loomis's actions seem bizarre and strange. The readers will not be able to understand why Dr. Loomis acted in the way he did. This is part of the reason why I did not like this book. If Dr. Loomis had told the story, we may have been able to see why he acted the way he did. However, since we did not write the book, we have no choice but to read it as the author wrote it.

I would classify this book into a genre of science fiction. I think this because the book involved a nuclear war and radiation. That part involves science. Since it wasn't true, it is fiction. The story and characters were made up. The genre it falls under may have played a part in why I did not like the book. If I were you, I wouldn't waste my time reading the book. It is simply not interesting.

Z for Zachariah is one of those books commonly read by kids in grades 3 - 8; though often because they are required to read it, and not because they want to. In short, the book is about a girl, Ann, who lives in a valley in the USA. The time period is the late 20th century. As the book begins, a nuclear exchange (with Russia presumably) has occurred that has devasted the countryside. Luckily, the valley where Ann resides was not hit, and the surrounding mountains have protected it from radiation. The rest of the book focuses on Ann's ordeals of surviving alone, coming to grips with what has happened, looking for other survivors, and then meeting a survivor. Unfortunately, this survivor, an older, male scientist, has a violent streak, and threatens Ann. The book then shows how Ann deals with this man, and ends with her learning to survive by herself again.

Overall, this is one of those books that would be better as a movie. The story is not riveting, and is actually quite boring. I was forced to read this in my elementary school. I did not like the book at all, and would not recommend it to anyone else.

Somebody in my science class reccommended this book to me. It sounded pretty intersting, so i checked it out from the library. i started reading it and i really liked it. But the cover really scared me.
Ann Burden is a 15 year old, trying to survive on her own after a nuclear bomb that never touched the valley that she lives in. Her family went to see what happened, and the radiation from the nuclear fire killed them. so she is all alone, living in her house with the farm animals. She thinks she is the only left in the world. Until one day, a scientist named John Loomis comes to her valley, wearing a "safe suit" that helped him survive. He becomes sick, and Ann helps him recover. But his behaior is very odd, and Ann runs away to her cave the Mr. Loomis doesn't know about. He becomes more and more dangerous as the days go by. He even tries to rape Ann. This is a great book, and i reccomend it to everyone over the age of 12.

Ann and Mr. Loomis are the only two characters in the book. They both live in a valley and are the only two people alive on the planet (that they know of) because of a nuclear war, causing radioactivity. Ann is a smart, hard working, and very dedicated 16 year old girl. Mr. Loomis is a smart chemist from Cornell College in New York, who has beat the radioactivity and got to the valley by wearing a "safe suit".He is also very sly. At first they both work together in the valley and hope to keep it alive and prosper, until Mr. Loomis changes his mind. A good part of this book is when Mr. Loomis is very sick and Ann is taking care of him. Because of his fever, he has nightmares and thinks they are real. He talks out loud and gives Ann alot of information about himself and his past. At one point he hallucinates and sees a person from his past. When he goes to shoot at him, he actually shoots through a window. I recommend this book to anyone because it is very interesting and keeps you wondering what is going to happen next. Even if you are not a big science fiction fan (like me), it is still very good and is hard to put down!

I remember reading this story in high-school years ago, and
Ifound it again at the used bookstore. I found it more
thought provoking and touching when I reread it as an adult.
I am stillamazed at the strength of the heroine. The story
holds up even aftertwenty years, and would entertain young
adult readers today.

Kelly Macsisak

Like other reviews, I first read this book in high school in the late 80's and was completely taken and still have remembered. I found a dusty old copy at the 2nd hand book store and insisted that my 13 y.o daughter read this. I was met with the "yeah right" how would you know a good book face. However she did read it and am very happy to report that she loved it and is one of her favourite reads. Be warned, its a book that you can not put down.....

Z For Zachariah is an exciting book of triumph. It teaches the hardships of being alone, and just how well you can trust someone you just met. Ann Burden is a sixteen year-old girl, living in a small town in the suburbs of Ogdentown. Everything was the usual, until radioactive material is released and the radio's and television's shut down, one by one. Soon enough, Ann is left without her family and fighting to survive. Little did she know, the fighting was about to get a whole lot worse. When a strange man named Mr. Loomis shows up, he bathes in radioactive water and becomes very sick. She is stuck to nurse him and amazingly, he heals. However, Mr. Loomis is not the nice, noble man he had lead her to believe. They end up against eachother, and Ann is soon undergoing an adventure she had never thought would come.

Z For Zachariah is a fantastic book! I originally choose it for a book report for school and now I read it constantly! This book is suspensful and interesting. For all High schoolers, I would definatly recommend for you to read this book!

I read this book while staying in the hospital with my daughter. I found it in their library. I have read many books that are written for children and teens and this is one of those that has really made an impression on me. A good book like this leaves images in my mind that make me feel as though I actually saw the events happening. I can just 'see' the guy chasing the girl all over that valley! The storyline was interesting and the characters well-developed. The action kept me turning the pages. I do enjoy post-apocalyptic storie and this is one of the best ones I've read. Highly recommended. There is one part that makes me hesitate to recommend it to younger readers. The girl is almost raped by the guy and there is some discussion about keeping the human race going. But most kids 12 and up could handle that part. Unfortunately our public library doesn't carry this book even though I told them about it. I do plan to buy a copy soon.

Z For Zachariah is a fantastic book! I originally choose it for a book report for school and now I read it constantly! This book is suspensful and interesting. For all High schoolers, I would definatly recommend for you to read this book!

Z for Zachariah is a depressing novel, even a disturbing one. Ann is forced into a life of solitude by circumstances. Even when the man, Mr. Loomis, entered the valley, she received little companionship, just pain and suffering for the most part. One interpretation might be that Mr. Loomis forced her out of the valley so she would seek others and procreate her species because he believed there were others after seeing the birds. But even with the protagonist professing hope at the end, there is no guarantee of finding other life. Even an optomistic reader must agree that hardship is certain and survival uncertain.The title Z for Zachariah would not indicate hope if it refers to her Bible alphabet and her belief that Z for Zachariah stood for the last man.

A LIFE NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN

Z for Zachariah is about a girl who thinks she's the last person on Earth, until a strange man shows up and is surveying the land. He tries to see if anyone is alive. Ann is afraid so she hides. Then he swims in a radioactie pond and gets sick. She is concerned so she comes out of hiding. She has to take care of him and herself with what she has. With this plot, Robert C. O'Brien, affectively develops a theme.

While going through the plot, readers can strongly and easily find the theme. This theme is to keep going in hard times and never give up no matter how bad it gets. One example of Robert C. O'Brien's use of plot in developing a theme is basically the whole book itself. Here is the example: he comes, he swims in the radio active creek, he gets sick, it rapidly progresses and gets worse and worse, his fever just deosn't stop going up, she tries to help him; but has other things to do for herself to survive, he gets delirious and dangerous, she figures out a way to do all the things she needs to do, she works with what she has, he starts to get better, she can do more stuff now, he fully recovers, for then all is good. This a lot of the book in a lot less detail. This is an example of Robert C. O'Brien's use of plot in developing a theme.

The theme (this is an opinion) is very beneficial to middle school students. Alot of middle school students give up really easily, so this is helping you realize to keep going no matter how bad things get. The only bad thing could be that is that it is telling you that the ability to destroy the world does exist and it might scare middle school students, but the good thing about that is that it helps you understand that we need to be very careful with our environment.

You should buy this book if you like suspencful action books. Even if you don't and you like journal form books or not even that kind of book, you will still enjoy Z for Zachariah.

So these are some of the thoughts of Robert C. O'Briens development of a theme in the book Z for Zachariah. Hope you enjoy the book!

i read this book for my summer reading and knowing a little about the author and personally knowing the family tought that the book would be good.yeah it was ok but its a little frusturating because when the character makes the wrong decisions when its obvious what the character should have done different.the book was just weird. i loved mrs. frisby and the rats of nimh but this would not have been my first choice.i reccomend this book to people who enjoy reading suspense and the experience of ending a book that leaves it up to you to use your imagination. happy reading!

Z for Zachariah, written by Robert C. O'Brien, is a novel that is difficult to determine whether it is "good" or "bad." This book is about a 16 year-old girl named Ann, who fights to survive in an environment where a man puts her life in danger. What is interesting is how Robert C. O'Brien weaves in his own life experiences in his writing, including his love for nature, which is an element that Ann must rely on for her survival. Although this novel is somewhat slow-paced in the beginning, it picks up as you read along.

I read this during my post-apocolyptic reading phase and found it bad beyond belief.. There is only so far I can suspend my disbelief and this, well...

1, I find it hard to accept that everyone in this magically missed valley would all drive out hoping to meet the neighbours, once the radios had gone silent.

2. Ann's sudden submissive attitude, granted she's only a teenager, but she's had to grow up a lot over the last few weeks, months etc. and shouldn't just lie down and let Loomis take her valley.

3. The magically missed valley.

4. That all her family would have abandoned her, surely if they wanted to find help, they should have stayed together.

and of course the constant references to the chickens and how lonely she was. Personally, if I had been her, I wouldn't have fled the house after the attempted rape, he still was weak, but stayed and put rat poison in his tea.

such a dull, boring and depressing book, (even for post-nuclear fiction)

I was expecting more from this book. Apparently the best writing was on the back. Ann was a great character and I was very grateful to see a girl with such an independent nature. The plot was a good idea but it could have been carried out more fluently. At points it lagged. Also, The cliff-hanger was to much. You become attached to a character who got abused the whole story then was left once again on her own. This book would be perfect with a sequel, otherwise to short and no closure.

Ann Burden is living in her family's valley convince that she is the only person left in the world after a nuclear war. Then one day John Loomis, a scientist in an anti-radiation suit. At first Ann is happy to have someone with her. But soon Ann realize that there more to Loomis than meets the eye.

I realize that Z for Zachariah is a teenage book, but the one thing that I notice was that the main characters seem to very little emotional base to them. Overall it an okay, but not much more.

This book is extreemly slow and is too imature and is quite a good book for begginers.
It has only two characters.
It is about a girl left alone in a vally, which has its own wheather, after a terrible nuciar explosion which killed everbody. Untill she meets this guy who is an isane man who wants her to be his slave. He also tries to [physically attack} her.

I read this as a child and was somewhat disturbed by it. Imagine what a 8 year old would think... It haunted me for years until I decided to read it again as an adult. Although I liked it as a kid, I understood it more as an adult. Great book!