The Rule of Three by Eric Walters

Adam Daley is at school when everything shuts down.  Anything electronic doesn't work anymore.  His first thought is that his father was out of town on a flight and wouldn't be able to get home.  His second thought is to pick up his little brother and sister and get them home.  They'd be fine there until his Mom got home.  He has an old car that uses no electronics, so his car will run.  He takes home his best friend and, because his friend asked her if she wanted a ride, the girl that he has a big crush on.  This is just the beginning...

Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Net Galley let me download and ebook of this story for review (thank you).  It will be published in January, so write it on your TBR list.  It's well written story.

No one knows exactly what happened or why and there's no way to find out.  Herb, their neighbor, is a ham radio operator and has old equipment so he can talk to others with the same equipment.  There aren't many of them though.  They are in the same situation.  Adam doesn't realize how valuable Herb at the beginning. If you've ever seen a crowd panicking you have some idea about how things are going to develop with no one coming to the rescue.  Herb worked for the federal government before he retired and he has lots of knowledge that will be invaluable for Adam and his family.

Herb is the one that knows the Rule of Three:  You can go without air for three minutes, without water for three days, and without food for three weeks.  Beyond that, you're dead.

Adam's mother is the police chief at the local police station and she's attempting to maintain order.  She needs Herb's advice on how to deal with this overwhelming situation.  Since Herb was a government spy, he's seen this sort of disaster before.  It wasn't the same thing, but he knows the human dynamics and he tries to prepare to handle what he can and to plan in advance for the worst.
 
This is a battle of survivors and predators; some people show their evil side when in a fight for survival.  It takes all members of the community they are safeguarding to defend their territory.  

This is not a boring book and the plot and analysis of how the disaster would evolve is real enough.  It's certainly enough to make you think.  How would YOU survive if this happened to you?  Or would you?