Monday, June 30, 2014

The Fever

The Fever, by Megan AbbottIdgie Says:
This novel is loosely based on real events and I was interested to find out how it would be turned into a novel.  With a little twist it became a nicely plausible story.  

It is a bit rambling in tone, but that makes it real as the narrators are the teenagers and well, if you've ever heard one speak...........  

There are vague, unfinished passages in the novel about certain events that make you somewhat unsure of what actually happened in that particular chapter - keeping the mystery high, but also at times the frustration level. 

The girls start having seizures and according to the other girls, they don't seem "the same" afterwards - are they changed/different.... or just "empty"?  The authorities start checking everything in the school - walls, air, piping, food supply.  Do they find anything .....or just a lot of dirt?

And what's this about the mysterious inoculations the school was reported to give the girls - without parent permission?  Where they experimenting on them? Is this the cause of the seizures?

Interesting, somewhat plausible  - and listening to the teens speak is totally recognizable. Also..... love the cover, it really stands out.
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The Fever
Meg Abbott
June 17, 2014
Little, Brown
ISBN-13: 978-0-316-23105-3
Price: $26.00

Book Description:

"It's happening, it's happening," came the low snarl from Lise's delicate pink mouth.

Her hands flying up, she grabbed her throat, her body jolting to one side.


The Nashes are a close-knit family. Tom is a popular teacher, father to two teens: Eli, a hockey star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend Lise is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure during class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community.

As hysteria swells and more girls succumb, a series of tightly held secrets emerge, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security.

The Fever offers a chilling story about guilt, family secrets, and the lethal power of desire.

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Original content containing all following information can be found at: http://www.meganabbott.com/thefever.html
 

Loosely inspired by a recent outbreak in upstate New York, which received international media attention:
Mystery Illness (Time)
School baffled by 12 girls' mystery symptoms (Today Show)
What Happened to the Girls in Le Roy (New York Times)
The Curious Case in Le Roy (NPR)

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Excerpt

Deenie couldn't get the look on Lise's face out of her head.

Her eyes had shot open seconds after she fell.

"Why am I here?" Lise had whispered, blinking ferociously, back arched on the floor, her legs turned in funny ways, her skirt flown up to her waist, and Mrs. Chalmers shouting in the hallway for help.

It had taken two boys and Mr. Banasiak from the classroom next door to get her to her feet.

Deenie watched them steer her down the hall, her head resting on Billy Gaughan's linebacker shoulder, her long hair thick with floor dust.

"Deenie, no," Mrs. Chalmers said, taking her firmly by the shoulders. "You stay here."

But Deenie didn't want to stay. Didn't want to join the thrusting clutches of girls whispering behind their lockers, the boys watching Lise turn the corner, her skirt hitched high in the back, her legs bare despite the cold weather, the neon flare of her underpants.



 "Deenie, I heard something." It was Gabby, sneaking up behind her in her sparkled low-riders. They never made any noise. "About you."

Gabby's face seemed filled with fresh knowledge, but there was no way she could know what Deenie had done the night before. Sean Lurie went to Star-of-the-Sea. People couldn't know.

"Did you hear what just happened to Lise?" Deenie countered, pivoting to look at her. "I was there. I saw it."

Gabby's eyebrows lifted and she held her books to her chest.

"What do you mean? What do you mean?" she repeated. "Tell me everything."
At first they wouldn't let her into the nurse's office.

"Deenie, her mother isn't even here yet," snipped Mrs. Harris, the head of something called facilities operations.

"My dad asked me to check on her," Deenie lied, Gabby nodding next to her.

The ruse worked, though not for Gabby, who, lacking my-father-is-a-teacher privileges, was dispatched immediately to second period.

"Find out everything," Gabby whispered as Mrs. Harris waved her out.

The nurse's office door was ajar and Deenie could hear Lise calling her name. Everyone could hear, teachers stopping at their mailboxes.

"Deenie," Lise cried out. "What did I do? Did I do something? Who saw?"

Peering in the open door, Deenie saw Lise keeling over on the exam table, her lips ribboned with drying froth, one shoe hanging from her foot. She wasn't wearing any tights, her legs goose-quilled  and whiter than the paper sheet.

"She … she bit me." Nurse Tammy was holding her own forearm, which looked wet. She hadn't been working there long and, rumor was, a senior athlete with a sore knee had scored two Tylenol with codeines from her on her very first day.

"Deenie!" Head whipping around, Lise gripped the table edge beneath her thighs, and Nurse Tammy rushed forward, trying to help her.

"Deenie," she said. "What happened to me? Is everyone talking about it? Did they see what I did?"

Outside the nurse's office, Mrs. Harris was arguing with someone about something,  the assistant principal's stern jock voice joining in.

"No one saw," Deenie said. "No way. Are you okay?"

But Lise couldn't seem to focus, her hands doing some kind of strange wobbling thing in front of her, like she was conducting an invisible concert.

"I...I..." she stuttered, her eyes panicked. "Are they laughing at me?"

Deenie wanted to say something reassuring. Lise's mother, vaguely hysterical under the best of circumstances, would be here any second, and she wanted to help while she could.

"No. Everyone saw your Hello Kitty undies, though," Deenie tried, smiling. "Watch the boys come now."

Copyright © 2014 by Megan Abbott