Delirium

Gr 9 Up—According to the Government's official publication, The Book of Shhh (The Safety, Health, and Happiness Handbook), humans, if unregulated, are cruel, capricious, violent, miserable, and selfish. "It is only after their instincts and basic emotions have been controlled that they can be happy, generous, and good." The Government also mandates that all citizens, upon their 18th birthday, submit to an operation to control the spread of amor deliria nervosa, the disease of love. Lena, 17, eagerly awaits the day she can show off her badge of honor: a three-pointed scar behind her left ear. Then she will be paired with a boy chosen for her by the evaluators and live happy and safe forever. That is until she meets Alex, an "uncured." Lena and Alex spend her remaining 95 days together as much as possible. Lena comes to understand that the regulators are not there to protect the people, but rather to control them, and that her mother didn't commit suicide, but was thrown into the crypts because she was a resistor. With only hours left before her scheduled procedure, Lena, with Alex's love and help, decides to follow her mother's footsteps. Lauren Oliver's science fiction thriller (HarperCollins, 2011) is a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat page-turner. Her writing is strong and filled with beautiful metaphors that enhance the darkness of Lena's life. Sarah Drew's narration breathes life into each character, especially Lena. She skips seamlessly between every conceivable teenage emotion: confusion, snarky sarcasm, whispered guilt, and the breathless bliss of first love. A must-have.—Cheryl Preisendorfer, Twinsburg City Schools, OH