Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Alex is a regular guy who wants his mom to stop nagging him about how many hours he plays video games. When his parents and little sister leave him home alone for the weekend, Alex is planning for the best weekend ever. Until disaster strikes--a supervolcano erupts and the world as Alex knows it ceases to exist. This fast-paced survival story will capture the interest of many readers, but I highly recommend it for upper middle school boys who like a lot of action and aren't afraid of some gory violence. (Honestly, for some of my students, the promise of a little gore pulls them in). I also LOVED Darla, a character who is nowhere near a "damsel in distress" (Hurray for strong female characters). Although the book's thick size may be daunting for some readers, a solid book talk with a read-aloud teaser will hook teens into this engaging trilogy series. I can't wait to read books #2 and #3.