Surrounded by death one girl must learn what it is to live. The debut of 2009, moving, scary, stunning, comes into paperback.
Born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, Carrie Ryan is a graduate of Williams College and Duke Law School. THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH is her first novel. A former litigator, she now writes full-time. She lives with her writer/lawyer boyfriend and two fat cats in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Gr 9 Up-For Mary and the rest of the villagers, the past is unknown and the present is dangerous and bleak. Villagers live in constant fear behind fences, separated from The Forest of Hands and Teeth and the clamoring Unconsecrated, zombie-like creatures that appear human, whose appetite for human flesh is insatiable. The village is governed by the mysterious, spiritual, yet somewhat sinister Sisterhood, and protected by the Guardians. When the Unconsecrated breach the fence and decimate the village, Mary and five other survivors are forced to flee through the forest, with the Unconsecrated close on their heels. They cling to each other and to Mary's belief that there is something better beyond the forest. Love, conflict, terror, life and death are all powerful elements within this well-developed, riveting sci-fi/horror story (Delacorte, 2009) by Carrie Ryan. Vane Millon's narration is flawless as the voice of Mary. Pacing is excellent and the switch between characters is seamless, with each individual given a distinct voice. Listeners will be kept on the edge of their seats right up to the ending which leaves plenty of room for a possible sequel.-Mary Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
Mary's village has been trapped for generations by a very near, very visible menace: the Unconsecrated-insatiable, flesh-eating zombies that constantly tear at the village's fences. Yet the Sisterhood-a conventlike order of religious women charged to protect the village's survival-is as much responsible for the submission of Mary's village as the Unconsecrated. When the fences are breached and the village overrun, Mary and several others escape through gated paths and arrive deep into the Forest of Hands and Teeth, forced to search beyond it for their future. Mary's observant, careful narration pulls readers into a bleak but gripping story of survival and the endless capacity of humanity to persevere. That Mary maintains emotional distance serves to render her yearnings and romantic feelings even more poignant and powerful. Fresh and riveting. Ages 14-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
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