Infestation
by Timothy Bradley
When Andy is sent to a Boy’s Reclamation School, a school for boys who have gotten in a LOT of trouble, he isn’t quite sure what to expect. The school is basically in the middle of the desert, hours of driving away from civilization. Andy is an orphan, and after running away from 4 foster homes in 18 months AND destroying his last foster father’s car and stealing his motorcycle, the courts decided this was the only option left. But when he arrives at the school, they seem to have an ant problem. These ants are a little bit larger than your average household black ant—and they bite. Fortunately, Andy’s roommate has found a stash of a special kind of bug spray in a secret room. They give the bug spray to the bully, Joey, so he will leave them alone, but even that doesn’t always do the trick. After an altercation with Joey in the cafeteria, the group of 5 boys is put into Block 6—similar to isolation in prison. During the night, the boys wake up to what feels like and earthquake. When they leave Block 6 to inspect the schools, they find that everyone has been killed—by human-sized ants! Pyro comes up with a combination—water and sodium in oil—that will explode killing the ants when thrown, and when Gerry the Biologist gets to the school, the boys and Gerry start to formulate a plan using the explosives and a secret “Royalty Chemical” that hides their scent from the ants, in order to escape the school and the mutant ants. Only one new problem—the baby ants are being born…with wings. Will the infestation spread or will the group be able to destroy the hive before it’s too late?
This is QUITE the buggy book! This is a short read that gets a LOT done in 175 pages. I liked the idea of trouble kids having to fight for each other and they find similarities rather than differences that lead to fighting. It shows growth in character.
The book also ends with a cliff-hanger, so you KNOW, Timothy Bradley has to come out with book #2.
On the other hand, I will say that because the book is shorter, there is a lot that happens, but not in great detail. I feel like the plot is a little thin, engaging, but thin. All of a sudden you have an adult show up just in the nick of time. They just happen to have all the answers right away, even though yes, they are surrounded by killer ants.
The great thing about this book, though, is that it appeals to the boys, bug-lovers, and adventure lovers. It is difficult to get certain teens to read, especially if they are a struggling reader, and I think with this book, those teens ARE able to read and understand the story AND they will enjoy it!
See you November 2 for the book club!
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