With the flurry of activities surrounding grandma’s funeral, a lot of my normal activities got sidelined. One of those activities was selecting the theme for book reviews this month. As a result, this month’s theme is “Miscellaneous.” 😛 I’m going to pull out some reviews jotted down in my notebook. Hopefully by next month my schedule will be sorted out enough to come up with a proper theme. Anyone have suggestions for patriotic novels? Now here’s this week’s review.
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Mitty Blake is not at all interested in scholarly pursuits. The mere mention of a term paper on infectious disease is enough to send his brain into lock-down. In a last ditch effort to turn something in, he wanders into his mother’s book room and opens an old medical book. Inside he finds an envelope containing 100 year old smallpox scabs. In the following days, Mitty learns that because he handled the scabs, the smallpox virus could be incubating in his body. Once he becomes infection, he could cause the deaths of people across the country. What should he do?
I have had this book on my mental to-read list ever since hearing the author talk about it several years ago. It did not disappoint. While Mitty’s initial immature choices can be a bit frustrating, he is a likable and ultimately heroic character. Despite his distaste for school he is smart and resourceful. I appreciated his views on self-sacrifice and heroism. For those of you who, like me, prefer to avoid boy/girl stuff, there is a slight subplot in that area, but the farthest it goes is a brief, undescribed kiss on page 83. Definitely a unique and suspenseful story.
Author: Caroline Cooney
Audience: Young Adults
Genre: Suspense
Pages: 200
Leah E. Good 