Virals
By: Kathy Reichs
Publisher: Penguin
Copyright: 2010
Reading Level: AR Level 3.5 IL: YA
Genre: Science Fiction
Setting: Future South Carolina
SUMMARY:
Tory Brennan is the leader of a band of teenage ‘sci-philes’ who live on an island
off the coast of South Carolina and when the group rescues a dog caged for
medical testing, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus
that changes their lives forever.
AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Kathy Reich’s work as a forensic
anthropologist has provided her the experience and basis for her books, and the
television show Bones, of which she is the producer. Read about her at:
www.kathyreichs.com/about-reichs
Other books written by the author:
206 Bones
Bare Bones
Bones to Ashes
Break No Bones
Cross Bones
Deadly Decisions
Death Du Jour
Deja Dead
Devil Bones
Fatal Voyage
Flash and Bones
Grave Secrets
I’d Kill for That
Monday Mourning
No Rest for the Dead
Seizure (Book 2 in the Virals series)
Spider Bones
SIMILAR BOOKS/BOOKS WITH A SIMILAR THEME:
Revised 3/7/08
Shelter by Harlan Coben
The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynn-Jones
The Grand Tour by Patricia Wrede
Maximum Ride series by James Patterson
The Cassandra Virus by K. V. Johansen
Virus Attack by Andy Briggs
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm: A Novel by Nancy Farmer.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (If question is related to a specific chapter, chapter is in
parenthesis following question)
1. How is the pack of “virals” similiar to and different from a pack of dogs or
wolves?
2. How does losing one sense heighten another? Is this the case with the
Virals? Why or why not?
3. At what point in the story did you realize that this was science fiction,
rather than realistic fiction? What events could not happen in real life?
4. Do you think students should have contacted adults at some point in the
story? Why or why not?
5. What good qualities did Chance have? What character flaws did he
have? Overall, would you consider him a “good” or “bad” character?
6. What good qualities did Marsten have? What were his major mistakes?
7. Discuss the use of technology in this story. What are some of the
appropriate and some of the inappropriate uses of it?
8. What other kinds of diseases can you catch the same way the Virals
caught the parvovirus?
9. What scene from this book would you most like to see in a movie? Why
LITERARY LINKS or ACTIVITIES:
Revised 3/7/08
Language Arts (List each and Indiana Academic Standards Grades 6-8
addressed by each):
Sort this year’s YHBA books by genre and defend the ones you think could go into
more than one genre.
6.3.1 Identify different types (genres) of fiction and describe the major characteristics
of each form.
6.3.2/7.3.3
Analyze the effect of the qualities of the character on the plot and the
resolution of the conflict.
6.3.3/7.3.8/8.3.9 Analyze the influence of the setting on the problem and its
resolution.
6.3.6/7.3.4
Identify and analyze features of themes conveyed through characters,
actions, and images.
6.3.8 Critique the believability of characters and the degree to which a plot is believable
or realistic.
6.3.9/8.3.2 Evaluate the structural elements of the plot, such as subplots,
parallel episodes, and climax; the plot’s development; and the way in which
conflicts are (or are not) addressed and resolved.
7.3.2 Identify events that advance the plot and determine how each event
explains past or present action or foreshadows (provides clues to) future
action.
7.3.5/8.3.8 Contrast points of view — such as first person, third person,
limited and omniscient, and subjective and objective — in a literary text and
explain how they affect the overall theme of the work.
7.3.9
Analyze the relevance of setting (places, times, customs) to mood,
tone, and meaning of text.
6.3.9/8.3.2 Evaluate the structural elements of the plot, such as subplots,
parallel episodes, and climax; the plot’s development; and the way in which
conflicts are (or are not) addressed and resolved.
Revised 3/7/08
Mathematics (List activity and Indiana Academic Standards Grades 6-8
addressed by each):
Science (List activity and Indiana Academic Standards Grades 6-8
addressed by each):
7.4.12 Explain that viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites may infect the
human body and interfere with normal body functions. Recognize that a
person can catch a cold many times because there are many varieties of cold
viruses that cause similar symptoms.
7.4.13 Explain that white blood cells engulf invaders or produce antibodies
that attack invaders or mark the invaders for killing by other white blood cells.
Know that the antibodies produced will remain and can fight off subsequent
invaders of the same kind.
8.1.5 Explain why research involving human subjects requires that potential
subjects be fully informed about the risks and benefits associated with the
research and that they have the right to refuse to participate.
Social Studies (List activity and Indiana Academic Standards Grades 6-8
addressed by each):
Other (List Activity and Indiana Academic Standards Grades 6-8 addressed
by each):
Challenging Words (pronunciation, spelling, defining) (include chapter and/or page #):
p. 57 bombast [bom-bast] –noun speech too pompous for an occasion;
pretentious words
p. 66 cotillion [kuh-til-yuh n, koh-] –noun
1. a formal ball given especially for debutantes.
2. a lively french social dance originating in the 18th century, consisting of
a variety of steps and figures and performed by couples.
Revised 3/7/08
3. any of various dances resembling the quadrille.
p. 77 trepidation [trep-i-dey-shuh n] noun
1. tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation.
2. trembling or quivering movement; tremor.
p. 81 cavitation [kav-i-tey-shuh n] –noun
1. the rapid formation and collapse of vapor pockets in a flowing liquid in
regions of very low pressure, a frequent cause of structural damage to propellers,
pumps, etc.
2. such a pocket formed in a flowing liquid.
p. 98 fiasco [fee-as-koh] –noun, a complete and ignominious failure.
p. 201 churlish [chur-lish] –adjective
1. like a churl; boorish; rude: churlish behavior.
2. of a churl; peasantlike.
3. niggardly; mean.
p. 322 limbic [lim-bik] –adjective pertaining to or of the nature of a limbus or
border; marginal.
p. 390 behemoths [bih-hee-muh th] –noun
1. an animal, perhaps the hippopotamus, mentioned in job 40:15–24.
2. any creature or thing of monstrous size or power.
Revised 3/7/08