The Living (Book 1)
Matt De La Pena
Shy's grandmother is dead from Romero disease, a disease that makes blood pool in the eyes, and the skin so itchy, patients scratch their skin off. He and his mom need money. So he gets a job on a cruise ship for the summer, handing out towels, golf clubs, etc. to all the rich people on the ship. When a strange man speaks with him about a mistake he made and then jumps off the ship, committing suicide, Shy becomes haunted by what secrets he may have been hiding.
When an earthquake hits California, huge tsunamis crash into the boat, utterly destroying it and landing Shy in a broken lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific with a rich, snobby girl (the daughter of a scientist on a secret island). When they are finally rescued and taken to an island, hundreds of people are sick, BUT there is a boat to take all the passengers and scientists back to the main island...but when Shy and his older buddy Shoeshine find out the truth behind the island and Romero Disease, they must fight for their lives.
I didn't realize it was possible to have this much action jam-packed into a YA book, but Pena pulls it off. So much is going on in this story, it is impossible to get bored. From survivor stories, to conspiracies, to the unmerciful might of the seas, you will be on edge the whole time, trying to read faster and faster to get to the end and find out what the heck is happening!
Shy is a great character, and from a background we don't see much in the Midwest, so it was an interesting read to find out a different culture and the way teens act in a different part of the country and work through situations.
Be aware that a LOT happens in this book. It jumps around from post-apocalyptic to mystery to thriller to love story. If you can follow all that, then this is a must-read. If you can't follow all that, you definitely need to try!
The next book in this series, The Hunted continues the story of Shy and Addie and comes out in May of 2015!
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