Mike Mullin, Author

Ashfall, Tanglewood Press. Ages 14+, ISBN 978-1-933718-55-2, $16.95 hardcover, $10.95 paperback, or $9.99 ebook.

Read the first two chapters of Ashfall here. (Or download a PDF from the link at the bottom of this page.)

About Ashfall:

Many visitors to Yellowstone National Park don’t realize that the boiling hot springs and spraying geysers are caused by an underlying supervolcano. It has erupted three times in the last 2.1 million years, and it will erupt again, changing the earth forever.

Fifteen-year-old Alex is home alone when Yellowstone erupts. His town collapses into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence, forcing him to flee. He begins a harrowing trek in search of his parents and sister, who were visiting relatives 140 miles away.

Along the way, Alex struggles through a landscape transformed by more than a foot of ash. The disaster brings out the best and worst in people desperate for food, clean water, and shelter. When an escaped convict injures Alex, he searches for a sheltered place where he can wait—to heal or to die. Instead, he finds Darla. Together, they fight to achieve a nearly impossible goal: surviving the supervolcano.

Awards and Honors:

Nominee for Missouri's Gateway Readers Award for 2013-2014 and Indiana's Eliot Rosewater award for 2013-2014.

10 Teen Reads You Can't Miss, Entertainment Weekly

Center for the Book, Best Children/YA Books of Indiana 2011 Winner.

International Reading Association, 2012 Young Adults' Choices list, "Survival and strength propel the novel through an all-too-real plot."

National Public Radio, 2011's Top 5 YA Novels, "This post-apocalyptic tale is one that combines reality with the stuff of nightmares, crawls under your skin, and forces you to question your own courage and survival instincts."

Kirkus Reviews, Best Teen Books of 2011

Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review “In this chilling debut, Mullin seamlessly weaves meticulous details about science, geography, agriculture and slaughter into his prose, creating a fully immersive and internally consistent world scarily close to reality.”

2011 New Voices Selection, American Booksellers Association. "At its heart, Ashfall is a coming-of-age tale — albeit one that will haunt you and make you want to enroll in a survivalist class immediately."

2011 ABC Best Books for Children Catalog Selection

Gold Star Award, TeensReadToo.com "[Mullin] created two intelligent, responsible characters, and it was a pleasure to take this journey with them."

Top Choice Award, Flamingnet.com "I laughed, I cried, I fell in love with this fine literary work."

Advance Praise:

"Mike Mullin's Ashfall glows and throbs with everyday life and the business of survival in a dystopic future, after an unthinkable disaster." --Richard Peck, Newbery Medal winning author of A Year Down Yonder and Three Quarters Dead.

"The scariest apocalypse is one that could really happen. Mike Mullin's Ashfall is way too real for comfort: you'll live the panic and despair and know that all of this could really happen. It will be a long time before you get the taste of volcanic ash out of your mouth. This isn't fantasy, this is real." --Michael Grant, NYT bestselling author of Gone, Lies, Hunger, and Plague.

“Mike Mullin catapults readers into a surreal, cataclysmic world that will hold them until the last page. If you aren’t exhausted by the end of the first thirty pages, you may want to check your pulse. Ashfall is the perfect book for reluctant teen readers who ‘can never find anything good to read.'” --Dave Richardson, Blue Marble Bookstore, book reviewer for the International Reading Association’s Reading Today, and children’s literature professor at Cincinnati State College.

"This is riveting. Fans of post-apocalyptic thrillers like The Hunger Games will love Ashfall." --Cinda Williams Chima, Author of The Exiled Queen and The Warrior Heir.

“You won't want to put this fast-paced book down. Teen readers will connect with the characters and wonder - could they do what Alex has to do to survive? Ashfall has it all—adventure, science, and even a little romance—woven together to tell a most compelling story!” --Carl Harvey, School Librarian, Noblesville, Indiana.

"Ashfall is smokin' hot. The story races like a wildfire with enough plot twists and action for two books. Mullin puts his hero through hell--and we get a front row seat. The scariest part? It could really happen." --Charles Benoit, Author of You.

"I found it hard to stop reading Ashfall. Common sense told me to quit at midnight, but I soon turned the light on again and read two more hours. . . . This is a book we will sell decently in hardcover and regularly for many years in paperback." --Carol Chittenden, Owner, Eight Cousins Children's Books.

"I stayed up late reading Ashfall. I woke up early worrying about Alex’s fate. Days later, I’m still thinking about the novel. This is a gripping debut." --Christine Johnson, Author of Nocturne and Claire de Lune.

"Mike Mullin hits one out of the park with his first novel. The fast-paced action and well developed characters, with a little romance thrown in, will prove to be a hit with young adults. I will definitely buy multiple copies for our media center." --Kathy Hicks-Brooks, Media Specialist at Ben Davis High School, Indianapolis.

"Ashfall is a tasty concoction of human relations, science, and imagination. It’s not real life—thank God—but it’s a close relative. It’s dense with verisimilitude. You may not be Alex or Darla or any of the other finely drawn characters in this story, but you’ll feel as if you’re in their heads, experiencing what they’re experiencing. In the end, you’ll appreciate the realism but be thankful for your clean water and abundant food and warm home." --David Patneaude, Author of Epitaph Road.

"Ashfall is a post-apocalyptic gem with a terrifying twist. Get ready to sleep with the lights on because this one's not about what could happen. It's about what will happen-- and possibly very soon. Riveting!" -- Saundra Mitchell, Author of The Vespertine and Shadowed Summer.

“Ashfall is a gritty tale of determination, courage, and creativity. The characters are richly drawn, the story is engaging, and the crisis is disturbingly realistic.” --Michael Robert Evans, author of 68 Knots.

"Best book I've read in years. You're the next Gary Paulsen. Bravo!" --Lisa Rojany Buccieri, co-author of Surviving the Angel of Death.

Awesome Fan-Created Book Trailer (Thanks Karin Perry!)