Help me find my long lost book.
December 27, 2012 9:42 AM   Subscribe

Finding a long lost book with a grey cover and very sparse details.

This is my first "find this book!" question. I don't have any hope that we'll actually find it, but I want to give it a shot.

I read this book in around '00 or '01. Fourth or fifth grade for me. But I was reading at a higher level than average, so keep that in mind as well.

The book was, from what I remember, based after an end of the world type scenario. I believe there were aliens that caused it, but I don't know if you find that out til the end. I believe it all took place in winter, possibly an abnormally long winter due to the 'apocalypse'. There were a few survivors that banded together, to try and survive/figure out what happened. I know technology was at a low level, think horses, leather boots, lanterns.

I think the main character was a woman who starts out alone, and finds this group of survivors. They take her in and stuff is normalesque for a while. I honestly don't remember much of the middle of the book. I think something happens though, and the group splits up and some people are killed. It ends up with just the girl and another person are the only ones left, and they're going North, to what they think the source of the problems is. They get there and I think they find aliens, and something with using people's DNA.

I think the cover is grey, maybe a picture of snow or something. I think the title has something to do with snow, or winter, or something but I can't remember for sure. If I remember correctly, the author was related to my teacher. Which leads me to believe that this is not a well known book, making it even harder to find.

Sorry it's so jumbled, it's been so long since I read it, and I only read it once. I'm considering emailing my teacher to ask, if I can find her email. But I'm hesitant to do that because I didn't like her, and she doesn't know me as my current name/etc. So I turn to metafilter first.
posted by trogdole to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
If I remember correctly, the author was related to my teacher.

A backwards way to do this is to check if your teacher's Facebook friends list is public and see if any of the names ring a bell.
posted by desjardins at 9:47 AM on December 27, 2012


Something by Ursula le Guin maybe?
posted by bunderful at 10:42 AM on December 27, 2012


It sounds a lot like "The Snow" by Adam Roberts, except the year of publication is off.
posted by lewedswiver at 11:05 AM on December 27, 2012


Could it have been Time of the Great Freeze or At Winter's End by Robert Silverberg?

Or something else on this list?
posted by brina at 11:12 AM on December 27, 2012


Hmm, details are not really in tune, but perhaps Anna Kavan's Ice? Possibly Mara and Dann by Doris Lessing?

There is a List of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction [also wikia], if that helps.
posted by dhartung at 11:15 AM on December 27, 2012


What about Snowfall by Mitchell Smith? It's set in a future Ice Age and the main character is a woman.
posted by Soda-Da at 4:16 PM on December 27, 2012


Response by poster: I thought it was The Snow for a second, but that's not it either unfortunately. It was definitely set on Earth, just an alternate future. I think, but I'm not 100%, that it was written by a woman as well. I know it's not Ursula le Guin.

I'll try the facebook method as well.

Any tips on how to keep searching on my own? Snow + apocalypse searches bring up an insane amount of results.
posted by trogdole at 9:52 AM on December 28, 2012


Ooh, Lilith's Brood^ by Octavia Butler?
posted by dhartung at 5:09 PM on December 28, 2012


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