Pandemic

by Yvonne Ventresca

The 2015 SCBWI Crystal Kite Winner for the Atlantic region!

Even under the most normal circumstances, high school can be a painful and confusing time. Unfortunately, Lilianna’s circumstances are anything but normal. Only a few people know what caused her sudden change from model student to the withdrawn pessimist she has become, but her situation isn’t about to get any better. When people begin coming down with a quick-spreading illness that doctors are unable to treat, Lil’s worst fears are realized. With her parents called away on business before the contagious outbreak—her father in Delaware covering the early stages of the disease and her mother in Hong Kong and unable to get a flight back to New Jersey—Lil’s town is hit by what soon becomes a widespread illness and fatal disaster. Now, she’s more alone than she’s been since the “incident” at her school months ago.

With friends and neighbors dying all around her, Lil does everything she can just to survive. But as the disease rages on, so does an unexpected tension as Lil is torn between an old ex and a new romantic interest. Just when it all seems too much, the cause of her original trauma shows up at her door. In this thrilling debut from author Yvonne Ventresca, Lil must find a way to survive not only the outbreak and its real-life consequences, but also her own personal demons.

Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

• ISBN10: 1628736097
• ISBN13: 9781628736090
• Publish Date: 22 May 2014 (first published 6 May 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Imprint: Sky Pony Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[shannonmiz]

So, perhaps reading this at the same time that there is a worldwide Ebola outbreak isn't the best plan? It is seriously eerie how easily this book could be real. To be fair, I am no scientist and I don't know how outbreaks of junk actually go down. But it feels like this could be completely real so let's just go with that.

I liked quite a bit about this book. Namely, the story itself. I am quite a fan of disaster scenario books, and I am always intrigued by stories of survival and such. This book was so realistic. I could most definitely see something like this happening, and the thought is terrifying. Now, imagine you're a teen, and alone, and scared.

This would be me, totally freaking out. Obviously.
So, Lil's parents have gone away. Her mom is in Hong Kong, and her dad gets called away to Delaware when the very first people get sick in Maryland. Lil's stuck alone in New Jersey with only a few friends and neighbors around. I think her reactions to being alone are pretty spot-on: she's scared out of her mind, completely paranoid, and starts hoarding ALL the supplies.

But of course, things start to go bad quickly. People in Lil's town get sick, and basically all hell starts to break loose. Eventually, the system starts to break down. People are sick and dying, so pretty much all aspects of everyday life start to fail. Supplies start to run out, hospitals are overloaded, looters are rampant, communications are spotty. I think this is a very realistic portrayal. In other books of this genre, "normal" life screeches to a halt, and I don't think that is what would happen. The conditions the author presented make far more sense. Things begin to disintegrate piece by piece, as people start to become more panicked, desperate, and yes, sick.

Lil's character is definitely likeable. There is "the incident" that she experienced which has distanced her from quite a few friends and an ex-boyfriend, and has basically just been eating at her for months. So not only is she scared about her friends and family, her own health, and the dire situation she's in, she is also still struggling with a lot of ramifications from months before. In truth, I liked that she was still spending some time focusing on her issues, relationships, and problems from before the Blue Flu. Obviously, the flu is her biggest concern most of the time, but I think it is important to show that her life is still going on, because I feel like that is what would actually happen.

Lil also struggled with a lot of moral decisions throughout the book too, like whether to help others or worry about her own survival, among other things that I won't talk about because, you know, spoilers. I liked that she struggled with these things, because as humans, we are kind of wired to put our own needs first, and if she hadn't even considered the selfish alternatives, I wouldn't have believed it.

There is some romance, but the romance is definitely not the main focus, and definitely not insta-love. There is a very strange sort of triangle/square/quadrangle (depending on who we are considering as being "involved") but it isn't super angsty or anything so it didn't bother me.

So, what is making me dock a star and a half, you ask? The feels. Or rather, the lack of feels. Usually in a book, when characters start dropping like flies, I am pretty upset. But I just felt kind of apathetic. Even when Lil would get upset about something, I didn't quite feel it. Yes, I read it, I knew what was happening, but I didn't get the emotion behind it. As a reader, I think that feeling and emotion in a book, especially a book about a global illness, is kind of necessary.

I did enjoy the story and the characters immensely though. The book had a good flow and a good story, and I read it quite quickly because I was eager to know what happened next. Definitely one to pick up if you enjoy survival and suspense in a realistic setting!