Contaminated by Em Gardner

I'm not sure how it is possible that I haven't read a YA book since October, but apparently I haven't. Contaminated is one I ordered through Scholastics a while ago and it sat on my desk for a few months. One of my students was looking for a new book to read so I gave it to her. She read it in a day and told me how good it was. Contaminated is the story of what happened after a epidemic of people having a bad reaction to a diet drink. People who drank this became very dangerous and unstable. Velvet was 16 when the Contamination hit- and suddenly she was living without her parents and trying to help her sister survive. When she discovers her mother is still alive, Velvet takes measures to protect her family in any way she can. This story was fast-paced and exciting. I liked how strong Velvet was and how she stopped at nothing to protect her family. There is a sequel to the book called Mercy Mode that I will need to pick up shortly. I can see lots of kids enjoying this story. Em Gardner's website can be found here.