The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Initially, Jed is presented as a melancholy individual, reeling from very deep personal hurts. Mary's brother is a village Guardian and his main tasks revolve around mending the fence that keeps the flesh-eating zombies out and killing any stray zombies that do manage to breach the village defenses. Despite her youth, she is a canny and fearless fighter. Mary is romantically involved with Travis, another teenager who lives within their fenced in community. She is particularly obsessed with learning about the ocean something, which many villagers do not believe, exists. Mary, despite having been indoctrinated that conformity to their way of life is best, possesses a strong individualistic streak and is particularly driven, quite nearly to obsession, to discover what lies beyond the village walls. In this community a hyper-conservative, hyper-religious society was formed and it is here that Mary is raised in. For their protection an immense chain-link fence has been erected around their community. The Unconsecrated roam the vast forest where Mary and many of the characters reside in.

Mary and her community are set in an undetermined, post-apocalyptic time where they live in constant danger from hordes of cannibalistic, undead humans they call the Unconsecrated. She is also the narrator and all events are told from her point of view. Mary is the teenage heroine of the novel. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan