The Forest of Hands and Teeth By Carrie Ryan

Genre: Young Adult, Horror
Source: Purchased

This is actually a reread for me. I read this book the first time in 2009. However, it has remained one of my favorites all these years. Yesterday I reviewed three short stories that are all like prequels to this book. This book at its very basic is about hope. Hope that things will get better in a society filled with the “unconsecrated”, or what we know as Zombies. There is no real telling of how whatever happened began. What was it that started turning people into zombies? One thing is for sure. If bitten by one you have two choices. You can ask to be killed or wait and be turned into a zombie as well.

Mary is one of the main characters in the story. She is in love with a boy named Travis. Henry is Travis’ brother and is in love with Mary. He is helping her one day as she goes to the river to wash her family’s clothes. The alarms begin to go off. Since Henry’s dad is in charge of the alarms and there was not a drill scheduled, they know it is serious. Mary realizes her mother has gotten too close to the fence looking for her husband and she has been bitten. She is isolated until she dies and Mary is held in a cell for a week to make sure she isn’t infected. The next time they hear the alarm go off it is because the infected have managed to break through the fences. Mary, her brother and his wife and Travis and Henry all escape into the woods. However, things don’t go the way they want. All Mary wants is to see if what her mother told her is true, that there is really is an ocean out there somewhere.

This is a book about hope, love, survival and reaching for your dreams. It is one I am glad I reread. I still have these books on my shelves at school ready for me to recommend to all of my students this next year.