The Forest of Hands and Teeth-Carrie Ryan

Mary grew up in a village in the middle of the Forest of Hands and Teeth. The Forest is filled with zombies, or the Unconsecrated as they're called. If you get bit by one, you will die and become one of them. Mary joins the Sisterhood (a religious cult) in the village because she wasn't asked for by Harry. She falls in love with Travis (Harry's brother) when his leg is broken. She prays for him. Eventually Harry does ask for her and she's upset that Travis hasn't because he's still with her bff Cass. (Note: this village had no technology anymore. It's like the 17/1800's)

Mary's mother becomes a zombie at the beginning. Her mother used to tell her about the ocean that her ancestors went to, so she dreams to find the ocean. An outsider comes to the village and Mary is excited about it. After being attacked Mary, Cass, Jed (Mary's bro) and his wife, Harry, Travis and Jacob (a kid) escape the village now overran by zombies and fallow the fenced in path. They find the outsider's village eventually only to end up trapped by more zombies. It gets really crazy and good after that. I totally suggest this to Resident Evil fans. It was boring at the beginning, but I couldn't stop reading once I got into it.

Pop-Lit Journal:

The Return affected everyone in the world. Now, almost everyone is a flesh eating zombie, or the Unconsecrated as they call them. It is now about a hundred years since the Return and Mary is a teenage girl living in a village that’s almost like something from the early 1800’s, but much more secluded. She knows nothing of the outside world except that they are surrounded by the Forest of Hands and Teeth which is full of the Unconsecrated. Their fence protects them, but sometimes people get bitten by the Unconsecrated through the fence, die and become Unconsecrated themselves, or are decapitated by a Guardian. When Mary’s mother is bitten and infected, Mary is devastated. She stays with her mom, who is imprisoned in a small area between the village and the Forest. Mary watches her mom die and Return. Her mother’s death affects her drastically. She stopped believing in God and she now wonders if it would easier to be one of the Unconsecrated. She questions what lies beyond the Forest. Because they were afraid that she would try to run away, Mary was forced to join the Sisterhood. The Sisterhood is basically a religious cult. It keeps the secrets of the village as well as help injured and sick people (not including the infected) and prays for them. Mary wasn’t happy about joining the Sisterhood. She was mad that Harry didn’t speak for him, but when Harry’s brother Travis is injured, Mary falls in love with Travis as she helps “pray” for him. Mary tells Travis about the ocean, a place she longs to visit someday. Her mother used to tell her stories about it that were passed down from a few generations. Ever since her mother joined to Unconsecrated, Mary’s dream to visit the ocean has grown stronger. When an outsider comes to the village, Mary gets her hopes up that there possibly is more out there. Maybe the whole world isn’t full of zombies and forest. After the village is attacked, Mary, her brother (Jed) and a few friends are forced to leave. The follow the forbidden path which leads them to another village eventually. This was the village that Gabrielle (the outsider) was from. There are no people left in it though, only Unconsecrated. They are trapped and must try to make do until they can find a way to get past the undead. Travis sacrifices himself to save them during the escape. Mary keeps her promise to him that she will find the ocean. She finds a gate eventually. One that opens into the Forest. She and her brother go through it and are ambushed by zombies. They fall in a river and are washed away. When Mary wakes up, she has found the ocean.

~*Haley*