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
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."
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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
All About Orange Code., April 9, 2006
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.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Smallpox? Yes, please, December 27, 2011
I loved this book! It was such a good read, and honestly, I could barely put down the gripping pages! I thought that this book was such a page-turner. I can't say much because I don't want to give everything away, but... breathtaking! I must have read this book hundreds of times when I was younger.
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