The Forest of Hands and Teeth
By: Carrie Ryan
The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a New York Times best-selling post-apocalyptic zombie novel by Carrie Ryan that she wrote for teens. This is the first book in this trilogy; the second book in the series is The Dead-Tossed Waves, and was released on March 9, 2010 and The Dark and Hollow Places followed in March 2011. The story begins with an unexplained catastrophe which has turned many into mindless, cannibalistic undead. This book mainly takes place where there are a band of survivors inside a village surrounded by walls deep in the woods with their own unique societal rules. However, the walls that protect these villagers also keep them trapped in a society with mystery, suppression, and violence. This makes the forest an increasingly intriguing place to a few such as Mary, a teenage girl (the narrator), who desperately wants to find out more about what lies beyond the village. The village in which she lives is ruled by the “Sisterhood and the Guardians”. There are only a few ways through the walls of this community and where these paths lead, no one knows, for the Sisterhood says the village is the only human inhabitance left on Earth. Mary remembers fascinating stories from her great-great-great-grandmother about life before the zombies and the ocean, which no one believes is real. She is particularly captivated by the ocean stories and believes that if she can make it there, she might be free. Read this story to find out more about Mary’s adventures involving, fence breaches, falling in love, loss, friendships, and mysteries behind the gates and fences.
Review By: Christina Fitch