Masque of the Red Death
by
Bethany Griffin
Edition
Hardcover edition
Publisher
HarperCollins
Imprint
Greenwillow
ISBN
9780062107794
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
Violence: Mild Violence, Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Drug Use/Abuse, Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Underage Use, Violence: Sexual Assault/Rape Reference/Discussion
In a society devastated by plague, Araby never goes anywhere without a protective mask covering her face. But she’s not the only one who is hiding something.
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
Violence: Mild Violence, Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Drug Use/Abuse, Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Underage Use, Violence: Sexual Assault/Rape Reference/Discussion
Details
Format
Page Count
336
Trim Size
5 1/2" x 8 1/4"
Dewey
F
AR
4.5: points 10
Lexile
HL640L
Genre
Fic
Scholastic Reading Counts
18
JLG Release
Jul 2012
Book Genres
Topics
Plague. Love. Wealth. Adventure and adventurers.
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Cover Art
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Praise & Reviews
Starred or favorable reviews have been received from these periodicals:
The Horn Book Magazine, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal
Praise & Reviews
School Library Journal
This grim tale tells of a city beset by plague. Everyone has to wear a protective mask, and corpse collectors come around every morning to dispose of the dead. Araby Worth lives a nihilistic existence centered around partying and taking drugs at the exclusive Debauchery Club, though she is careful never to kiss or sleep with anyone as she has vowed never to experience anything that her dead twin brother, a plague victim, would be unable to experience. This resolution is tested by two young men. Elliot is the nephew of the evil ruler, Prince Prospero (one of the novel’s nods to Poe’s original story), who is determined to save the city and willing to die trying. The other, Will, is more of a simple sort, trying merely to keep his younger brother and sister alive amid all the death. Both boys find themselves distracted from their goals by Araby and her irresistible beauty. She is not just any girl, however; her father invented the masks that are the only protection against the plague, and whose production is entirely controlled by Prince Prospero. The plot, set off when Araby steals the design plans for the masks from her father’s study, is complicated, involving multiple underground rebel movements, the emergence of a second plague, and dark secrets about almost every character. As the novel ends with the plot unresolved and the main characters in danger for their lives, one can only assume there will be a sequel. Recommended where appetites for horrific postapocalyptic futures remain insatiable.—Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA
Horn Book
The influence of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same title is clear throughout this disturbing novel about a crumbling world that is mostly centered on surviving a horrific plague—technology, equality, and social mores be damned. Seventeen-year-old Araby has been floating through life for years, constantly blocking out the world with her protective, lifesaving mask, even as she longs to feel and do something different. She allows herself to be dragged to decadent parties where all can ignore living in a world that is falling apart from neglect, where the population continues to drop precipitously and new sicknesses threaten. Araby, through her first experience with love, becomes involved in a plot that may finally get the evil leader overthrown, a change that would mean even more social chaos but would ultimately yield good. Permanently damaged by loss, tragic Araby is an ideal protagonist through which to view this grim setting. Her sarcasm and dim opinion of humanity are warranted, and her aching vulnerability as she begins to break through the grief of losing her twin brother years before is compelling. The complex layers of who is using whom, and to what ends, adds a mystery element to the novel. While the reader may not easily discern why this is a world worth saving, they will certainly understand why its inhabitants, including Araby, are clinging so tightly to survival.
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