Panic (408 Pages)

Lauren Oliver has written another YA book that has me wondering how kids will respond to the ideas within its pages. The book takes place in a small town in upstate New York and focuses on four teens: Heather, Bishop, Nat, and Dodge. The four have just graduated from high school. Their town, Carp, offers little for teens to enjoy and because of this, a tradition known as Panic has developed. Panic is open only to seniors who have graduated. The summer of their senior year the students meet secretly over the course of the summer and receive messages as to when and where the next step of Panic will take place. It is an elimination process, and students learn about each Panic contest only when they arrive on the scene. The judges of Panic are unknown, and there are specific rules students must follow. Every student who decides to participate puts a set amount of money into the Panic account and the total that will go to the winner is announced at the first scene. It is basically a game of chicken and ends with a final challenge known by all as "Joust." Joust is where the final participants drive cars toward each other until one of the cars swerves to avoid a crash. There are twists and turns to the plot, part of which will be familiar to readers. However, this is a tense, frightening, and realistic fiction. How will our students today respond to this text? With intelligence or with infallible thinking?