Summary & Evaluation: Not the End of the World is a retelling of the Biblical Flood, told primarily from the perspective of Timna--a daughter of Noah, previously unmentioned in the Bible (no thanks to a patriarchally-centered society). The story follows Noah and his family as they are tossed about on the Flood's waters, forcing them to deal with the atrocities of the Flood on humanity (having to deny people floating in the waters safehaven because of God's perceived command), on the animals (what do you think a caged tiger does if a rabbit happens to wander into its cage?), and on the family itself. Unknown to her family, Timna rescues a young child and his baby sister, and then struggles with her father's view of the action as being wicked (and considering the children demons because of it) and her maternal instincts of protecting the child; eventually, because of this action, Timna is exiled from the ark (a trick played on the men by Ama, Noah's wife, who said she would kill Timna for smuggling the children aboard) but finds the dry land that has protected other survivors.
I found the story to be a feminist recasting of the story, where Noah's sons (minus Japheth, the youngest and, by virtue of this, the most caring and effeminate) are your atypical male--smelly, grunting, unthinking, reactionary, quick-to-kill and even quicker to fall for lies. Noah isn't spared from this perspective either, where he does not question God and the devastation that the Flood wreaks on the world, and is viewed critically because of this--but not as critically as his sons. The women of the story, meanwhile, are closer to perfection to the men, as they are constantly outwitting the men, are compassionate, and eventually gain a greater understanding of the Flood's meaning than do the men. Perhaps the highest praise I could give about this book is that the more I think about the story, the more I get out of it--because, at first, it seemed to be about living with stinky animals and how much that sucks but, as the story continues, it really becomes a story about how a young adult begins to realize that their parent isn't always right and the complex relationships of family, and, by extension, the complex relationship of mankind to their Higher Authority.
Booktalk Hook: I certainly wouldn't booktalk this at a Christian youth group, because it challenges the story of the Flood on so many levels (but how great is that?). But I'd love to booktalk it at the library--I'd start with asking people if they've ever gone on a long-distance car trip with their family. What would that be like if you had thousands of animals aboard? Do you think your family would come out of it intact?
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