Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney

Code OrangeThink of all those diseases in the past that ravaged countries and killed millions of people. Mitty's science class is doing research on some them, and Mitty's mom offers him an old medical book to use. He finds an envelope inside that says it contains scabs from small pox victims in the early 1900's. Mitty's not normally a reliable student, but something about this disease interests him; there haven't been any cases of it in a couple of generations. He reads about the symptoms and history of small pox, and he discovers there really isn't a treatment for it. As days go by, Mitty realizes he may have been exposed to the virus, and he may be endangering everyone he meets, including his girlfriend. His problems become even worse when he searches for help on the Internet.

The idea of the book touches the fears of many Americans as terrorists threaten the world. Mitty is a likable, realistic character; he could be a teenager in any family. The author provides side comments about the virus in Mitty's body, so you will know what's happening before he does. The chapters contain a great deal of non-fiction reading about small pox, and this may turn off some readers. The twist in the plot after Mitty sent emails for help on the Internet was unexpected.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments unrelated to the books being described will be removed.