Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse

For Ages: 14 and up

customer reviews

A male perspective on sorting love from loss, faith from fear—brimming with humor and romance.

Phillip’s sophomore year is off to a rough start. One of his best friends ditches him. His track coach singles him out for personalized, torturous training sessions. And his dad decides to clean out all of the emergency supplies from the basement, even though the world could end in disaster at any moment...and even though those supplies are all Phillip has left of his dead mom. Not that he wants to talk about that.

But then Phillip meets Rebekah. Not only is she unconventionally hot and smart, but she might like him back. As Phillip gets closer to Rebekah, he tries harder and harder to turn himself into the kind of person he thinks she wants him to be. But the question is, can he become that person? And does he really want to?

Choose a format:

Book details:

Simon Pulse |
416 pages |
ISBN 9781442423886 |
January 2012 |
Grades 9 and up

$16.99 List Price

Usually ships within 1 business day

Teaching Resources

To download a file to your computer right-click on the link and choose 'save file as'

High Resolution Images

Book Cover Image (jpg): Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse
Hardcover 9781442423886

(1.0 MB)

Author Photo (jpg): Lucas Klauss
Photograph by Meredith Zinner

(1.9 MB)

Any use of an author photo must include its respective photo credit

Praise

“Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse is funny, heart-wrenching, and true. An amazing debut.”

– Morgan Matson, author of Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour

SEE ALL PRAISE (21)

“Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse is funny, heart-wrenching, and true. An amazing debut.”

– Morgan Matson, author of Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour
“A moving tale of the things that bring us together and thethings that tear us apart. Klauss navigates the fragile landscape of faith, friendship, and love with wit and insight.”

– Carolee Dean, author of Take Me There
“Smart, honest, and thought-provoking, Everything YouNeed to Survive the Apocalypse is like nothing I've read before. What anamazing debut!”

– Lisa Schroeder,author of I Heart You, You Haunt Me and The Day Before
“Curious, funny, and heartfelt.”

– Albert Borris, author of Crash Into Me
“A powerful, thoughtful story about the wonders offirst love and a young man's quest to find a truth he can believe and live for. Lucas Klauss has written with courage about love and faith.”

– Francisco X. Stork, author of Marcelo in the Real World
“A funny, thought-provoking look at the friends you lose and the friends you keep, the girls you get and the girls who get away, and the big questions you ask, even when they don't have answers.”

– Leila Sales, author of Mostly Good Girls and Past Perfect
“Razor-sharp, hilarious, and so smart. Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse is the book you were afraid to let yourself want.”

– Hannah Moskowitz, author of Invincible Summer and Break
“High School only feels like the end of the world. What do you need to survive? Good friends, faith it will all work out, belief in yourself, and a sense of humor. Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse delivers on all fronts. I would recommend this book in your survival kit instead of bottled water and extra batteries.”

– Eileen Cook, author of The Education of Hailey Kendrick and Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood
“Struggles with faith, family, friendship, and first love aren’t the end of the world, but sometimes they feel like it to 15-year-old Phillip Flowers. Author Lucas Klauss skillfully and honestly portrays the complexities of teenage life, as Phillip discovers that the only thing scarier than, say, a universe-imploding supercollider accident is having to pick up the pieces and find the answers--or at least the questions--when life goes on.”

– Michael Northrop, author of Gentlemen and Trapped
“Soulful, but sinfully funny, Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse is for any reader who's ever had to deal with 'the end of the world.' (In other words, all of us!)”

– Micol Ostow, author of 30 Guys in 30 Days and Family
“Maddeningly funny and heartbreaking. Klauss makes the end of the world feel like something to celebrate.”

– John M. Cusick, author of Girl Parts
“Apocalyptically wonderful. A smart and funny and sincere exploration of teenagers and faith.”

– Kristen Tracy, author of Lost It and A Field Guide for Heartbreakers
“An unflinching exploration of faith, devotion, and doubt: What do we believe in? Why do we believe it? Klauss asks us, and his characters, the essential questions.”

– Lauren Strasnick, author of Nothing Like You and Her and Me and You
“Transports grown-up readers back to a time of feeling young, awkward and convinced that a broken heart is essentially the end of the world.”

– Manhattan Magazine
“Tackles big issues [of] faith and love.”

– Kirkus
“A tightly woven story….This book would be a positive addition to a balanced young adult collection.”

– VOYA
“Filled with smart observations and achingly funny insights. Debut author Lucas Klauss develops his characters with honesty and humor, asking thoughtful questions and avoiding easy answers. Not only is Phillip's journey of discovery an enjoyable page-turner, it's provocative enough to keep readers thinking long after they've finished the last page.”

– Shelf Awareness
“Provocative....guaranteed to raise discussions.”

– SLJ
“Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse is wise about the misunderstandings we hang onto and the ways we fail to understand one another in both friendship and love.”

– BookPage
“Insightful, humorous, and truthful....Already a skilled and polished writer, first-novelist Klauss offers adult and youth characters that are developed, realistic, and provocative....This book could well become the sort of came-from-nowhere, sustained hit that Stephen Chbosky's Perks of Being a Wallflower proved to be.”

– Booklist, starred review
“Thoughtful…witty…well-drawn.”

– Publishers Weekly

Read an Excerpt

ONE

Ow.

Ow.

Pain cuts through my foot each time it hits the pavement. I hobble and curse, and then I stumble onto a nearby lawn. The muggy air feels like gauze against my face.

Asher and Mark stop running too. We all catch our breath.

“What happened?” Asher says, planting his hands on his hips and doing that thing where he shows his top row of teeth as he inhales. The front two are perfect and white like crunchy gum.

With my butt perched on the curb, I lean back on my hands. The grass feels soft but prickly and it smells as much like chemicals as gas.
... see more