Sick

Dude. What to do when the kids in your school start turning into some sort of weird zombies?

Sick, by Tom Leveen

Amulet Books, ISBN: 978 1 41970 805 3

A few friends have figured out how to “escape” their very secure high school to skip a class, but when they return, they find the place has gone seriously crazy. A strange virus is spreading and the affected teens are mutating into zombie-like monsters, with crystalline formations on their skin and an insatiable hunger for bone marrow. The spread is speeding up, and now these friends have to figure out how to protect themselves and a handful of others trapped in the drama building, and hopefully also find a sister and girlfriend who they hope are still human. Is escape their best option, given that the whole city has gone into apocalypse mode, or do they stay put?

This sounds… like the stuff of B movies, no? A little ridiculous? Given the trend in teen lit for zombies and a developing fashion for outbreak stories, you’d think this territory would be well-covered and this one might not be worth touching, but honestly, it’s a really fun read. It may not add anything all that new other than an attempt at explaining the nature of the disease, but when action moves along this fast, deep is not always what you’re looking for. Heck, pages were turning so fast, I’m not sure I would have appreciated it anyhow. No, this is all about the fun and the what next, and for that, it’s a good, well-paced ride that would be perfect for a little brain candy or for that teen who is not really a reader normally – in this case, the plot is pretty likely to suck them in.