Pandemic

April 1, 2014
In her first novel, Ventresca pulls together three unrelated themes to create a medical thriller/romance. Lily's had trouble coping ever since one of her teachers, Mr. B, attempted to sexually assault her, an attack that's only gradually revealed. In response, she's taken up smoking and dressing in a sort of lazy version of goth, and even though she was an honor student, she's begun cutting classes. Now, with her father away at an infectious-diseases conference and her mother in Asia, the abrupt appearance and rapid spread of the often lethal Blue Flu has pushed her to the brink. Not only are looters roaming her neighborhood and dead bodies piling up in homes, but Mr. B is stalking her. Further complicating matters, previous love interest Ethan and likable neighborhood smoking pal Jay are competing for her affection. It's challenging to give all three threads--disease, sexual assault and teen romance--full attention. Even though she's obviously conflicted, Lily's monthslong emotional meltdown feels somewhat contrived, especially since she reacts capably as civic response to the contagion falls far short, those close to her sicken and die, and she accepts, if reluctantly, responsibility for caring for children--including an infant--orphaned by the disease. With the scarily rapid spread of the disease and the resulting crumbling of society offering ample peril and suspense, the sexual-assault theme adds little. Still, this realistic page-turner will keep most readers enthralled. (Thriller. 12-16)

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April 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-It's been a few months since Lil changed from a model student into the nervous and withdrawn person she is today. Despite her anxiety and compulsions, Lil is surviving as best she can. Soon her anxious worries become real when a few flu cases turn into an epidemic-and then that flu epidemic becomes a global pandemic. Lil's parents are stranded on separate business trips, and she is left alone, with her fears, to face the illness rampaging around her. Then there are the looters and the orphaned baby down the street. And Jay, who might be the only good thing left. But the teacher who sexually assaulted her keeps trying to get in touch, and nowhere seems safe. This is an engrossing apocalyptic story, told through Lil's eyes and newsfeeds as her neighborhood, then the East Coast, and finally the entire U.S. buckles to its knees as the pandemic spreads. The sexual assault plotline wasn't really necessary (Lil could have easily been anxiety-ridden without it), but it does add to the fears and drama. Themes of friendship and coming together in a crisis carry the novel.-Brandy Danner, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2014
Grades 7-10 Ever since she was sexually assaulted, Lilianna has been trying to get back to normal life at home and school. When a deadly flu pandemic strikes while her parents are away on business, Lilianna and her fellow teens try to help others and struggle to survive. But then her attacker reappears, and Lilianna must face the past in order to get to the future. Ventresca gives believable Lilianna a compulsive need to prep for disaster (a coping skill after her assault) and a father who works for a journal called Infectious Diseases, both convincing details that help keep the focus on the characters and fast-paced action. As is to be expected in an apocalyptic novel, there are a few gruesome dead bodies as well as no shortage of tension or death, but teen disaster fans will likely appreciate that the high-schoolers are portrayed as good, helpful, yet imperfect people. Though the type of apocalypse is different, this fast read will appeal to fans of Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It (2006).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)