Code Orange

Code Orange was about a student named Mitty who slacks off on all of his school work. In science, they were given a project to choose and research a disease. Mitty chose Smallpox. Olivia, his crush, persuades him to do research and to take his time. Mitty finds smallpox scabs in an old book of his parents’. He touches the scabs and becomes convinced the he is going to get smallpox. After sending out many emails about the scabs, he runs away, only to be kidnapped by terrorists. They want to release the disease on all of New York, where he lives. He uses his knowledge, that he didn’t know he had, to outsmart them. Pretending to have smallpox, he gains control of his captors.

I thought Code Orange was interesting. The plot wasn’t like anything else I’d ever read (although, I don’t read a lot of books about diseases…), but I didn’t like it.

I didn’t think it was realistic in any way. The scabs were a stretch to believe, but when Mitty gets kidnapped, it lost all realism it had. It also lacked depth. I didn’t get to know any of the characters.

I would compare Code Orange to The Rock and the River because I both, the main character does things behind their parents’ backs. In The Rock and the River, Sam helps the Black Panthers without telling his father, while in Code Orange, Mitty doesn’t tell his parents about the scabs until he writes a letter telling them he is contemplating committing suicide then runs away. And, in each, the main character’s crush persuades them to do the right thing.

I would recommend this to anyone who isn’t a big reader but is into science.