In Panic, Lauren Oliver (the Delirium Trilogy) brings the intensity of The Hunger Games to contemporary upstate New York.
Most residents of Carp see the small town as a dead end. From Fresh Pines Mobile Park to "Meth Row," there isn't "much to smile about in Carp." When Heather Nill's boyfriend dumps her for someone else, Heather joins the crowd of high school seniors who will compete in Panic, a summer-long series of challenges beginning the day after graduation. The winner will get $67,000, collected from everyone who attends Carp High--a sum representing a dollar a day for every day school's in session, starting freshman year, for each student. Panic is a way out of town for one lucky senior. But in its seven-year history, the game has resulted in four deaths and one person becoming paralyzed.
Dodge Mason is playing Panic this year, too. It was Dodge's sister who was paralyzed when her car was tampered with on a final challenge; Dodge wants revenge. Heather's best friend, Natalie, plays for a chance to go to Hollywood. And Bishop just wants them all to survive. As the summer progresses, the challenges grow increasingly dangerous. Alliances are made and broken, secrets are revealed, and no one emerges unscathed. But each player might well learn some important truths.
In alternating chapters told in third-person from Heather's and Dodge's points of view, Oliver spins a compulsively readable plot, with high-stakes action and just the right amount of romantic intrigue. --Lynn Becker, host of Book Talk, the monthly online discussion of children's books for the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators