Jennifer Armstrong
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Jennifer Mary Armstrong (b. May 19, 1961) is a children's author who was formerly married to James Howard Kunstler.
[edit] Books
- Armstrong, Jennifer. (1998). Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World : The Extraordinary True Story of Shackeleton and the Endurance Crown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-517-80013-6
- Fire-Us. (2003)
[edit] Fire-Us Trilogy
The Fire-Us Trilogy (Book 1: The Kindling, Book 2: Keepers of the Flame, and Book 3: The Kiln) is a series of post-apocalyptic young adult fiction by Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher. The series begins in 2007, five years after a plague of unknown origin has killed the vast majority of the human population. The plot concerns the family, a group of genetically unrelated orphan children living in the small fictional town of Lazarus, Florida.
The older children, now approaching adolescence, attempt to emulate the behavior of the "first families" which they belonged to before the plague. However, Armstrong and Butcher depict the children as traumatized and ill-equipped to handle the world around them, the oldest being barely more than toddlers at the time of the "Fire-Us," the children's name for the contagion. The girl named Teacher takes on the responsibility of educating the younger children, Puppy, Kitty, Baby, Doll, Teddy Bear and Action Figure. Teacher compulsively collects information concerning the Fire-Us and the collapsed civilization in The Book, a scrap book which she adds to in a trancelike state. In reality, The Book seems to be a meaningless collection of advertisements, half-remembered news segments, and bits of instrution manuals. Similarly, Mommy makes the children "brush our teeth and take vitamins and eat good food instead of just candy." Mommy refuses to leave the house, and suffers from extreme agoraphobia. Both Mommy and Teacher are frequently frustrated by Action Figure, who frequently skips lessons and meals to go out scavenging with Hunter, an older boy who searches Lazarus for rapidly dwindling food.
As the family comes to grips with their increasingly desperate situation, they encounter a disturbed older boy who wanders into Lazarus dragging a mannequin on his back. The family call him Angerman, a mispronunciation of "anchorman", because of his tendency to give semicoherent monologues in the style of a newscaster. The "news" often ends with Angerman succumbing to his own frustration at not being able to remember the events he is "reporting". Angerman's thought process is constantly interrupted by the hostile commentary of Bad Guy, the boy's name for the mannequin he carries with him. Angerman blames Bad Guy for the Fire-Us in particular, and frequently attacks the mannequin to "shut him up", although Angerman is the only one who hears Bad Guy "talking".
After hearing one of Angerman's "reports", the family hatches a plan to travel to Washington D.C. to find the President. On their way they encounter the Keepers, a group of religious fundamentalist adults living in an abandoned mall, and a helpful enclave of elderly women living in a retirement community.
