Code Orange (Readers Circle) [Kindle Edition]

Caroline B. Cooney (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up–Most readers will have high expectations from the creator of The Face on the Milk Carton (1991) and the Out of Time series (both Random), but they might be a little disappointed in this offering. Mitty Blake is a talented but underachieving student in advanced biology at a New York City private high school. He is more interested in his friend Olivia than in completing his infectious-disease report, which could keep him from flunking. When he discovers a smallpox scab in an envelope in an old medical book, his research takes a somewhat urgent turn as he tries to determine whether he has contracted the disease. Searching for information on the Internet (thankfully, the high-achieving Olivia knows how to use a library), he inadvertently alerts a terrorist group to his situation. They kidnap Mitty with the intention of using him as a human biological weapon against the people of New York. This should be a highly suspenseful story, but the pacing is often slow and the characters underdeveloped. Even in this day and age, the terrorist angle seems far-fetched, and this underachiever's heroic efforts at the end seem out of character for him. Cooney's fans will undoubtedly read this book, but it doesn't meet the standards set in some of her young adult classics.–Courtney Lewis, Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School, Kingston, PA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 6-9. In top, utterly terrifying form, Cooney leads a gregarious New York City teenager to a century-old sample of smallpox scabs. As dedicated to avoiding study as he is to getting closer to classmate Olivia, Mitty is oblivious to the danger he, she, and everyone else in the crowded city is in from his possible exposure to this hyper-contagious, utterly devastating disease--until he starts looking into smallpox for a school project. Drawing from several medical resources, which she lists at the end, Cooney lays out the illness's history and symptoms in precise, gruesome detail as a horrified Mitty writhes on the horns of a dilemma: Is the virus still active? Can he find a way to prevent an epidemic if it is? Should he tell the authorities, and look like a total dork if it isn't? Then, in a heartstopping twist, Mitty is kidnapped by terrorists intent on using him as a biological weapon. Readers won't soon forget either the profoundly disturbing premise of this page-turner or its likable, ultimately heroic slacker protagonist. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 413 KB
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (December 10, 2008)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001NJUOI0
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,176 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fast read with an "eeeuww" factor, January 12, 2006

By 

Camille "at the BookMoot!" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Code Orange (Hardcover)

Mitty is a high school goof-off. He is a poor student who is more plugged into his music than his schoolwork. He is only taking Advanced Biology because of he wants to be in the same class as the fair Olivia. He works just hard enough to get by which is why he has not started his research paper on infectious diseases. While looking through some very old medical books he discovers an envelope marked VM. Inside are two nasty, ancient scabs, which he examines and handles.
His research leads him to the meaning of VM...variola major or smallpox.

He cheerfully sets off to research smallpox for his report but as his knowledge of the disease grows so does the dawning horror that he has handled and inhaled the dust from the scabs. Is the virus still viable after all this time? Has Mitty contracted the disease and is he spreading it around his beloved New York City? Are his symptoms real or is he imagining things?

I started this novel last night and had to stop about half way for sleep though thinking about it kept me awake. There are times when Cooney's discoursing on the topic begins to overwhelm the plot but my eyes kept racing ahead to find out what was going to happen next.

The threat of smallpox as a bioterrorism weapon is a part of the current dialogue so I found the evolution of the story very compelling. The book is a fast read and has an "eeeuww" factor, which should make it a success with teens.

I booktalked it to an 8th grader today and he grabbed the book out of my hands saying, "I've got to read this book."

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All About Orange Code., April 9, 2006

By 

kloye218 "kenna" (Jacksonville,FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Code Orange (Hardcover)

This book takes place in New York City in present time. Mitty is a 15-year-old boy who thinks that life would be so much easier without school. The only reason that he makes himself go is Olivia. Mitty takes advanced biology, and he's not really sure why. His class is assigned to research a infectious disease using books as their textural references. If he does not make a good grade on this test, he'll go back down to regular biology. Mitty would be fine with that, but it would mean not being in Olivia's class. So he decides to do the project. He chooses Variola Major, commonly called smallpox. While researching, Mitty comes upon a envelope stuck in between the pages of a disease book. When he opens it he finds several, what he believes were once smallpox scabs from a 1920 epidemic. As Mitty is writing his paper, he describes what smallpox does to your body. I recommend not reading these parts on a stop-and-go bus ride on the way to school, it only makes it worse. At the end of the chapters, the author tries to scare you by implying that the scabs had gone into his nose, and were affecting Mitty. He himself can not decide if he actually has this disease which he and the rest of the world thought no longer existed, or if he is simply imagining it.
So, Mitty decides to email different medical committees and groups that he thinks he may have smallpox. These groups act in different ways, one person wants to buy the scabs, others think theirs no way the virus could last that long, and another threatens to call the FBI for joking about a terrorist threat. Mitty tries to make himself believe that he doesn't have small pox, but he can't help thinking he may cause a bioterrorist attack. It ends up that he thinks about killing himself, but actual terrorists kidnap him first. You still don't know if he actually does have small pox or not. I personally didn't think he did NOT, since the author had been hinting Mitty did.
Finally, Mitty pretends he has smallpox, slightly believing it himself, and the kidnappers believe him. He lures the kidnappers down stairs, and locks them in. He also breaks a pipe which releases carbon monoxide into the air. He manages to escape himself, just barely, and calls 9-1-1.
I found the book very enjoyable and fun to read. It was very suspenseful and very good. The only critique I have to make is the fact that reading about what would happen if someone with smallpox was a little too detailed and sickening.

5.0 out of 5 stars Best medical story ever!!, May 11, 2011

By 

Andrewisachillguy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Code Orange (Hardcover)

Im not much of a reader, but i read this book for my ap biology class. The book made me actually want to keep going after each chapter and the twists and turns throughout the story kept me on my toes. I recommend this to anyone who wants a quick read about a kid dealing with the possibility of starting another small pox epidemic.