SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

April 17, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Book Review: Quarantine 1: The Loners by Lex Thomas

April 17, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS   1 comments

It was just another ordinary day at McKinley High—until a massive explosion devastated the school. When loner David Thorpe tried to help his English teacher to safety, the teacher convulsed and died right in front of him. And that was just the beginning.

A year later, McKinley has descended into chaos. All the students are infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults. The school is under military quarantine. The teachers are gone. Violent gangs have formed based on high school social cliques. Without a gang, you’re as good as dead. And David has no gang. It’s just him and his little brother, Will, against the whole school.




When I got this ARC in the mail, I thought to myself, “Oh great…another book about kids killing kids that is trying to catch on to The Hunger Games fetish”. Boy, was I wrong. I started reading this book, got to page 4 or 5, and then thought that I had missed something. That maybe it was printed incorrectly because immediately, within the first few pages, I was thrown into the action. David is trudging along, ready to experience his first day of school when something absolutely INSANE happens and his teacher completely convulses and practically explodes right in front of him. And then there is an explosion, destroying part of the school.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

As time passes, and more than a few hours, these kids have been there for WEEKS, you find out that all the adults are dead and that the government has closed the school completely off so that no one can leave and nothing can get in, besides the food and supply drops. So, imagine The Hunger Games mixed with Lord of the Flies mixed with Trapped by Michael Northrop and there you have it. Teens, trapped with no adult guidance, left to fend for themselves. But of course, the teens group off in their cliques and David, a social outcast, is left with his little brother Will, in an attempt to survive. The teens begin to act almost barbaric and the author leaves nothing out, from emotions running wild to the violent food and supply drops, where every clique is fighting to the death for food and supplies.


The book is frighteningly realistic and I was completely chilled to the bone while I read. One of the most gripping books that I’ve read in quite some time and with many different plot twists and turns, waiting for the next book may very well kill me. I was swept away from page one and I couldn’t put it down! I give this book 5/5 stars! – Stephanie Wilkes

Karen says Quarantine is “Lord of the Flies mixed with Trapped/Variant but on steroids”. There is some ultraviolence, to borrow from A Clockwork Orange, but some students make courageous decisions and that twist in the end will keep you on the edge of your seat for book 2.  Quarantine has already been optioned for a movie.

Filed under: Book Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

June 2022

Book Review: The Name She Gave Me by Betty Culley

by Karen Jensen, MLS

June 2022

Book Review: The Loophole by Naz Kutub

by Karen Jensen, MLS

June 2022

Post-It Note Reviews: Graphic novels, picture books, and more!

by Karen Jensen, MLS

June 2022

Book Review: Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

by Karen Jensen, MLS

May 2022

Take 5: Recent graphic novels reviews

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Children’s Books in the Amazon Top 100

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Amazing Bone by William Steig

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Banana Fox and The Gummy Monster Mess | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

Continuing the Mock Newbery Process: Time for July Suggestions

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

by

The Classroom Bookshelf

by

The Yarn

Shark Week, Vanilla Ice Cream, and the Honda CRV: Bob Shea and Brian Won Team Up for ADURABLE

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

26 Must-Have Latinx YA Books Filled with Romance, History, and Magical Realism

More Than Voting: 6 Election-Themed YA Novels Tackle Relationships and Political Engagement

17 Immersive Graphic Novels for Teens | Summer Reading 2021

Current Events Reflect Current Reads | Pondering Printz

2 Contemporary Retellings of 'Pride and Prejudice'

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anne Murphy says

    September 30, 2012 at 5:46 am

    My reaction after finishing this was “Holy crap, what did I just read?!!”

    And I can't wait for the next one…

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2022


COPYRIGHT © 2022