Going Viral

Tory Brennen is good at science (which isn't surprising since her aunt is Temperence Brennen, renowned forensic anthropologist), but also good at getting into trouble. When she and her friends Hi, Shelton, and Ben find an old dog tag while searching for a wolf-dog family on Loggerhead Island, an island off Charleston, SC that houses a facility for sea turtle research, Tory sets off a chain of events that not only endanger her life and the lives of her friends, but also change their genetic makeup. When Tory and her friends sneak into LIRI, the research facility where her dad works, to borrow the lab's equipment to clean the dog tag she found, they end up rescuing a wolf-dog puppy that has been infected with a mutated strain of Parvovirus that can be passed to humans. Now, in addition to trying to save the puppy, they are also fighting an illness that is mutating their DNA and giving them "powers" similar to those of a wolf, and she and her friends have stumbled across a decades-old murder mystery that could bring down one of Charleston's most powerful families, that is, if it doesn't get them all killed first.

Virals is the first book in a series of young adult books by Kathy Reichs, author of the Temperance Brennan novels and inspiration for the television series Bones. Fans of the no-nonsense Brennan portrayed on Bones may be put off a bit by the element of supernatural of this series. Tory and her friends develop "superpowers" after being exposed to the experimental parvovirus; powers like super strength, smell, vision, and hearing. I enjoy watching Bones and I enjoyed Virals, but I couldn't help but hear the TV Brennan whispering, "This doesn't make sense. It's not logical." If you can get past the voice of TV Brennan, Virals is quite an exciting ride.

The story is written for teens, so you get lots of teen situations. There is quite a bit of profanity, so I would not recommend it for anyone younger than middle school. You can learn more about all the books in the Virals series at http://kathyreichs.com/virals/.

Two For One: Infinity Ring Books Six and Seven

The Infinity Ring series is the latest print and online combination series by Scholastic that takes a story that starts in the books and continues it online through a game that is accesses using a special code from the book. Scholastic's first attempt at this combination was the popular 39 Clues series which is still going strong with it's third spin-off series. Like the 39 Clues series, each book in the Infinity Ring series is written by a different author. Where this series differs, however, is that the online game tells a part of the story that isn't included in the books. While you don't HAVE to play the online game to understand the series, you do miss details and part of the adventure if you don't signup and play the game.

Behind Enemy Lines by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Book six in the series has Dak, Sera, and Riq landing in Europe in 1943 during World War II. Just after meeting the local Hystorian, a bombing raid causes a building collapse that kills the Hystorian and destroys their SQuare, leaving the group with no guidance as to what the break is or how to fix it. Dak and Sera are  forces to travel back to their time to try to get a new SQuare, but instead of finding the Hystorians, the find Tilda, leader of the SQ. While trying to escape teh SQ and warp back to 1943, Dak and Sera inadvertantly take Tilda with them. Now, in addition to trying to figure out and fix the break, they also have to try to stay away from Tilda and the additional danger she brings to their mission.

With a new SQuare in hand, the group learn that this break is the one that led to the SQ rising to power, so it becomes even more important to them to fix this particular break. The break involves a covert mission called Mincement Man which tried to distract the German forces away from the Allied's true target. In order to fix the break, the group must split up. Riq stays in Scotland while Sera goes to Spain and Dak heads to Germany. If the kids can pull this off, the Allies will win the war and the SQ will not rise to power. Can they convince the Germans of Mincement Man's authencity, or will they end up prisoners themselves? Will they be able to stop Tilda, especially now that she has her own time-travel device or will she mess up everything they have fixed and bring on the Cataclysm?

The Iron Empire by James Dashner

Dak, Sera, and Riq have traveled up and down the timeline of history and have finally ended up in Ancient Greece, the site of the Prime Break. If they can fix this break, they will have defeated the SQ and prevented the Cataclysm that ends the world, but in order to do it, they'll need the help of Aristotle, the founding father of the Hystorians. They must stop the assassination of Alexander, heir to the throne and Aristotle's favorite former pupil, and they only have three weeks to stop it; however, as the group is talking with Aristotle, a messenger arrives to announce that Alexander has just been killed by a woman that the time travelers identify as Tilda. Now the kids and Aristotle must travel even farther back in time to try to stop Tilda and the original assassin and save Alexander so that they can prevent the great Cataclysm from destroying the future. Can they fix the Prime Break, and will it really save the future?


Much like Margaret Peterson Haddix's Missing Series all the books in the Infinity Ring series take place around actual historical events, but one of the things I miss in this series that Haddix includes in her series is an author's note giving some factual information about the time period, event, or people. When reading both of these two books, I found myself pulling out my phone to look up details to see if they were factual or fictional. While the factual note isn't necessary to understanding the story, I think it would enhance the reader's experience with the historical side of the historical fiction.