I would recommend this book to middle and high school aged kids who are interested in the medical field but who are not typically enthralled by nonfiction reading. The idea that a previously prevented epidemic may resurface and cause new biological concerns is a complex concept not often written about in young adult books. I initially chose to read this book when I found it in my school library and thought that the concept was rather interesting and original. Unsure of whether or not he has been affected by the scabs, Mitty encounters moral and logical dilemmas involving those close to him as well as a possible bio terrorist threat after discussing the circumstances of his unique situation online. He accidentally encounters a book containing sample scabs from an early 1900s smallpox study. (Sept.In the book, Code Orange, by Caroline Cooney, a teenaged boy from New York named Mitchell Blake attempts to write a biology report for a school assignment on infectious diseases.
As he improvises a daring yet ultimately plausible scheme to save his beloved city, Mitty makes a convincing transformation from sweet-natured slacker to bona fide hero.
The protagonist's rash e-mail queries make him the target of a terrorist group that aims to harvest the smallpox virus from his body. Just to test this, Mitty and his dad would sometimes get a hot dog, sushi or a toothbrush at three a.m."). (Wild as this plot element may seem, it is based on a recent, real-life event, as a closing author's note explains.) Though initially pleased to have averted academic disaster, an ominous fear grows in the boy: Did he ingest a portion of the scabs and could he now be incubating the smallpox virus? Mitty's realization that he may be a walking viral time bomb is neatly underscored by Cooney's affectionate rendering of his uniquely New York lifestyle ("Everything was always open. Hunting for a topic for his biology research paper on infectious disease, Manhattan private schooler Mitty Blake picks up an antique textbook, discovers an envelope within its pages, and takes out its contents: scabs from a long-ago smallpox epidemic. ) rat-a-tat delivery and hairpin turns keep the pages turning in this attention-grabbing post-9/11 thriller.
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