Quarantine,
Book One: The Loners by Lex Thomas
Egmont USA
ISBN: 9781606843291
Reviewed by Paula Erickson
It’s the first day of school at the brand new McKinley High School, and before the first bell even rings, an explosion rocks the building. All the teachers and staff almost instantly start vomiting their insides out. Within two weeks, the school is draped by a huge tent in order to quarantine them from the adult population of Pale Ridge, Colorado. The surviving students find out that they are the carriers of a deadly virus. It does not hurt them, but it will instantly kill any adult that gets near them. The east wing of the building is gone and the students are left to survive on their own. The military makes bi-weekly drops of supplies, but the students have turned against each other. What used to be the social cliques are now gangs; The Nerds, The Geeks, The Freaks, The Sluts, The Skaters, The Burnouts, The Pretty Ones, and The Varsity. They each have a service that they provide in order to survive.
David used to be the big man on
campus at McKinley High School. He was the quarterback of the football team. He
was popular and he had the hottest, cheerleader girlfriend, Hilary. Then his
mom was killed in a car accident and David quit the football team in the middle
of the play-offs. He alienated all his friends and his girlfriend dumped him
for the new quarterback, Sam Howard. So when the school was quarantined, David
and his brother Will were left out of the gangs. Sam is now in charge of the
Varsity and Hilary is in charge of the Pretty Ones. In order to survive, David
and Will learn to stay low and avoid attention, especially Sam and Hilary.
A year later, David runs into Lucy,
one of the Pretty Ones, being attacked by a Varsity. On impulse, David rushed
in to help Lucy and accidently kills the Varsity guy. This puts Sam and the
rest of the Varsity gang on the hunt for David and Will. Lucy takes refuge with
David. Their survival is now in the hands of the left over students, the ones
that never belonged to a gang, the Scraps.
In this apocalyptic novel, readers are drawn into the chaos of high school at its worst. With no adults to help keep the peace, kids steal, fight and kill each other to survive. Readers will find themselves hoping David and Will can find a way to survive.
