Author: Courtney Summers
Review: It's the end of the world-a zombie apocalypse is here and 6 teenagers are seeking cover in their local high school, Cortege High. One bite from a zombie and you become a flesh eating shell of your former self. Almost every teen is willing to do whatever it is to survive but our protagonist, Sloane Price, was suicidal before this even happened. She watches her fellow classmates and their thirst for survival while she waits for the end of the world.
First, let me say that although there are zombies in this book, I wouldn't classify this as a zombie book. They are a catalyst to get these teens into the school. This is a book about survival (more along the lines of Lord of the Flies). It brings up a lot of good questions in terms of how far would you go if you were in this situation. Could you decide that someone needs to be sacrificed for the rest? Would you sacrifice yourself to help get others to safety? Do you think you'd be a leader or a follower? Sloane was a unique heroine in that she was not your typical 'I will do whatever it takes' characters. She had a physically abusive father and an emotionally abusive sister who abandoned her several months before the apocalypse happened. She was very damaged and spent a good amount of the book trying to comes to terms with her sister's abandonment. She wanted to end her life but didn't want to risk anyone else's lives. Summer's was also not afraid to kill off main characters, which kept it interesting.
This was a book club selection and we had really good discussion around it. I highly recommend this for teens as well.
Grade: 4/5
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