Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Ashfall is a young adult dystopian novel.  The premise is that a "super volcano" in Yellowstone National Park erupts, shrouding the entire United States in ash in a natural disaster of epic porportion.  The main character is Alex, a fifteen year old boy who takes to the road to rejoin his parents.  He travels through a transformed world, where violence in the norm and everyone is desperate for food and clean water.  

There is a lot of action in this book, and Mullin doesn't shy away from more of the gritty details of a natural disaster.  I like the romance in it too--it's portrayed in a gradual, natural manner and the female protaganist is both tough and smart. 

There were stretches of the book that went very, very slowly.  There were parts that didn't seem very realistic--for example, Alex's Taekwondo training actually comes in handy (does that ever really happen?).  The ending is a bit unsatisfying to me and hints at a sequel.  All in all, I could see this being a popular book for both teenage boys and girls, and it's definitely worth the read if you enjoy the genre.

Three stars