Armageddon Summer

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Armageddon Summer is a novel by Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville. It chronicles the experiences of two teens, Marina and Jed, whose parents have joined a millennialist cult whose members call themselves "The Believers". Neither Marina nor Jed firmly believes that the world is going to end, though Marina finds comfort in the religion while she mourns for her dad, who was left below the mountain in the arms of a lady with weird teeth. Marina has two younger brothers named Grahme and Leo, and Jed has an older sister named Alice. Jed's mother ran off to Colorado with a photographer, and Jed's dad has immersed himself in various things since her departure that aren't necessarily good for him.

The leader of the cult, Reverend Beelson, proclaims that the world will end on July 27 in the year 2000. July 27 is also Marina's birthday. Only those who seek haven at the top of a mountain will be spared from the fiery wrath that God will rain down upon non-believers. But as the cultists prepare for Armageddon, Marina and Jed fall in love, complicating the situation even more for them.

The concept of the novel was originally Yolen's idea. Later, she asked Bruce Coville to co-write the story. The book is written with the viewpoints of Jed and Marina alternating every chapter. Coville wrote the chapters from Jed's perspective, and Yolen wrote the chapters from Marina's perspective. There are also occasional excerpts from Reverend Beelson's sermons, police transcripts and FBI memos interspersed throughout the book for exposition.