Most research was done at Columbia University's Health Sciences Library or the Lehman Social Services Library.
It was my plan to quote directly from old medicaltexts, but complex sentence structure, exceedingly lengthy sentences and medical terms no longer in use made this difficult. In the end, I gave Mitty fictional texts. As much as possible, his books resemble the real books from which I got my information.
Online sources are mentioned in the story itself. Some online medical sites are fictional.
The following is a partial list of written sources:
Committee on the Assessment of Future Needs for Live Variola Virus, Board on Global Health. Assessment of Future Scientific Needs for Live Variola Virus. National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 1999.
Christie, A. B. Infectious Diseases. London: Faber and Faber, 1946.
Fenn, Elizabeth A. Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82. New York: Hill and Wang, 2001.
Henderson, Donald A. “Smallpox as a Biological Weapon,” in Bioterrorism: Guidelines for Medical and Public Health Management, ed. Donald A. Henderson et al. Chicago: American Medical Association, 2002. Originally published in Journal of the American Medical Association 22 (June 9, 1999): 2127-37.
Hopkins, Donald R. Princes and Peasants: Smallpox in History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983.
6. Ker, Claude. Infectious Diseases, a Practical Textbook. London: Oxford University Press, 1909. (Mitty's chart of symptom percents and the citation that the virus had not yet been discovered come from this book.)
Koplow, David A. Smallpox: The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
Mack, T. M.“Smallpox in Europe,”Journal of Infectious Disease: 125 (1972): 161-69.
MacKenzie-Carey, Heather. Bioterrorism and Biological Emergencies: A Handbook for Emergency Medical Responders. Toronto: Prentice-Hall, 2003. (This is the book that attempts to describe the treatment for smallpox and concludes that there is none.)
Osler, William, Sir. The Evolution of Modern Medicine. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1921.
Preston, Richard. The Demon in the Freezer. New York: Random House, 2002.
Tucker, Jonathan B. Scourge: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox. New York: Grove Press, 2002.
Welch, William M., and Jay F. Schamberg. Acute Contagious Diseases. Philadelphia and New York:Lea Brothers & Co., 1905. (The Macaulay quote is in full on page 147; this text also includes mortality rates and other statistics for epidemics in 1901-1904 in New York, Philadelphia and Boston.)
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
In Chapter One, Mitty learns that the term paper assigned by his biology teacher, Mr. Lynch, requires a bibliography that includes at least four physical books, so that students' research is not done exclusively online. Discuss how the Internet is as important as any character in this novel.
Mitty is a likeable slacker. How do his relationships with his friends, the people in his neighborhood, and his family change as the story develops? How does Mitty himself change? Discuss Mitty's feelings about his “hometown,” New York City. How does where you live change your view of the world?
Except for laboratory samples, variola major, a killer virus, has been eliminated by scientists. How can people feel safe despite the threat of bio-terrorism? How involved should government become with scientific research?
Mitchell John Blake and Olivia Clark are classmates and friends, yet each wants more from their friendship. How do Mitty and Olivia signal their interest to each other? Do male and female approaches to romantic involvement differ? How?
Often teenagers do not confide in their parents, even though their parents want to know what's going on. Discuss the complex relationship between Mitty and his parents. Can you understand his parents' point of view?
The FBI and the CDC come to Mitty's school seeking information. Discuss the issues of privacy vs. homeland security.
When Mitty sends out a general e-mail asking for information on the scabs he has found, he has no idea who might reply. Who are the bad guys in this story? How do you think people such as terrorists justify killing innocent people? Can you think of any cause that would lead you to violent action?
Mitty realizes that turning himself in to the proper authorities could mean life or death—not only for him, but also for millions of people. Discuss how Mitty develops a stronger sense of patriotism and decides to go with the woman he believes is from the CDC. What is the meaning of being a good citizen?
A CONVERSATION WITH CAROLINE B. COONEY
Q: Many of your books are set in suburban Connecticut. This one features New York City as its prime location. Why did you decide to change your location and actually make New York City a character?
A: When I had an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (right where Mitty lives), I fell in love with the city. I loved everything—the people, the parks, the libraries, the concerts, the walking, the languages being spoken. Since I raised my three children in the suburbs, I kept wondering what it is like to grow up in an apartment building in New York. I wanted to write a book in which New York City was just as important a character as the hero, because that's the way you feel when you live in New York—New York is your constant companion, your antagonist, your hope.
Q: You present your main character as a slacker and a privileged boy who gets away with things by using his charm, and yet readers like him—and it seems you do as well. Why did you create such a character?
A: It's so appealing to lie around and do nothing much. In fact, kids often revel in doing nothing much and are admired for it and might even brag about it. But in the end, it's what you do that counts. Will you stand up and do good things when it matters, or hang around and do nothing? This is Mitty's test.
Q: The Internet plays a large part in this novel. Indeed, this novel could not have been written even ten years ago. How do you feel about such an element in your book?
A: My readers have always known the Internet, but it's new and still astonishing to me. The changes it has meant in our world are awesome and wonderful and terrible. I want my readers to think about its power and also its indifference—the Internet doesn't care what's on it or who uses it. You, my reader, have to care.
Q: America is a changed nation post-9/11. Do you believe there are good guys and bad guys?
A: The most important things in life are to decide what you stand for and then to stand up for it. Both are difficult. I believe kids know from toddlerhood what is right and what is wrong, what is fair and what is unfair, what is good and what is bad. The world around us has different ideas. Don't let go of what you knew in kindergarten: the good guys need to continue being good and help people threatened by a bad guy, whether that's a bully on the playground or a bully on another continent.
Q: It is exciting that the choices of a teenager might change the fate of a nation. Talk about why this matters to you.
A: It's easy to feel that any one of us cannot make a difference. But every vote does count and every effort does matter. Everyone is crucial to how the world turns out.
Q: What was your writing process for this novel?
A: I've never been able to address this question well, because my style sounds odd even to me. I write a bit of an outline—really a short story of what the book might be—and then I just hurl myself at my idea using no particular order or technique until I've compiled hundreds of miscellaneous paragraphs. Usually I find that these sort themselves into a chronology and a story line that may or may not match my original idea, and then I lean into my characters and spot the ending, and through it all, I feel this intense excitement, as if I'm uncovering some treasure that was always there, it just needed me to dig.
Q: What advice would you give an aspiring writer?
A: Practice. If you want to play the piano, you practice scales and chords every day. If you want to play basketball, you practice free throws. Writing is no different. Classroom assignments don't count. P
ractice paragraphs on your own, and beginnings of stories, and descriptions of people, and dialogue. No need to finish anything—after all, you don't ever finish practicing basketball, do you? I do not recommend keeping a journal. First-person narratives are boring to the reader, and you don't want to be boring. Practice writing in the third person, like this: “Mitty slept so soundly that people could sit on him and watch television, have arguments and clean up after a sick dog, and Mitty would never know.”
Relevant Reading
Small Steps
Louis Sachar
978-0-385-73314-4
In his first major novel since Holes, critically acclaimed novelist Louis Sachar uses his signature wit combined with a unique blend of adventure and deeply felt characters to explore issues of race, the nature of celebrity the invisible connections that determine a person's life, and what it takes to stay on course. Doing the right thing is never a wrong choice—but always a small step in the right direction.
Burning Up
Caroline B. Cooney
978-0-440-22687-1
This bestselling author explores the destructive nature of hatred, the crime of indifference, and the power of accepting love and responsibility.
Acceleration
Graham McNamee
978-0-440-23836-2
It's a hot, hot summer in the depths of the Toronto Transit Authority's Lost and Found. While seventeen-year-old Duncan is cataloging lost things and sifting through accumulated junk, he finds a little leather book. It's a diary filled with the dark and dirty secrets of a twisted mind, a serial killer stalking his prey in the subway. And Duncan can't make himself stop reading. What would you do with a book like that? How far would you go to catch a madman? And what if time was running out…?
Refugees
Catherine Stine
978-0-440-23876-8
Two teenagers on opposite sides of the globe flee everything they know. In a world turned upside down by tragedy they are refugees.
Holes
Louis Sachar
978-0-440-22859-2
Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake. But there's more than character improvement going on at the camp—the warden is looking for something.
READERS CIRCLE BOOKS
Secret Heart • David Almond • 978-0-440-41827-6
Joe's mind is always somewhere else. He doesn't fit in, and everybody laughs at him. And then a tattered circus comes to town, and a tiger comes for Joe. It leads him out into the night, and nothing in his world is ever the same again.
Heaven Eyes • David Almond • 978-0-440-22910-0
Erin Law and her friends in the orphanage are labeled Damaged Children. They run away one night, traveling downriver on a raft. What they find on their journey is stranger than you can imagine.
Before We Were Free • Julia Alvarez • 978-0-440-23784-6
Under a dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in 1960, young Anita lives through a fight for freedom that changes her world forever.
The Giver • Lois Lowry • 978-0-385-73255-0
Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices, until Jonas is given an opportunity that will change his world forever.
Gathering Blue • Lois Lowry • 978-0-385-73256-7
Lamed and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously taken to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians.
Colibrí • Ann Cameron • 978-0-440-42052-1
At age four, Colibrí was kidnapped from her parents in Guatemala City, and ever since then she's traveled with Uncle, who believes Colibrí will lead him to treasure. Danger mounts as Uncle grows desperate for his fortune—and as Colibrí grows daring in seeking her freedom.
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town • Kimberly Willis Holt • 978-0-440-23841-6
Toby's small, sleepy Texas town is about to get a jolt with the arrival of Zachary Beaver, billed as the fattest boy in the world. Toby is in for a summer unlike any other—a summer sure to change his life.
Ghost Boy • Iain Lawrence • 978-0-440-41668-5
Fourteen-year-old Harold Kline is an albino—an outcast. When the circus comes to town, Harold runs off to join it in hopes of discovering who he is and what he wants in life. Is he a circus freak or just a normal guy?
Zipped • Laura and Tom McNeal • 978-0-375-83098-3
In a suspenseful novel of betrayal, forgiveness, and first love, fifteen-year-old Mick Nichols opens an e-mail he was never meant to see— and learns a terrible secret.
Cuba 15 • Nancy Osa • 978-0-385-73233-8
Violet Paz's upcoming quinceañero, a girl's traditional fifteenth-birthday coming-of-age ceremony, awakens her interest in her Cuban roots—and sparks a fire of conflicting feelings about Cuba within her family.
READ CAROLINE B. COONEY'S NEW NOVEL
Lily never guessed that hate could be so fierce. She's always thought of hate as a verb for clothing (I hate pink) or weather (I hate when it's hot), but now she uses hate and feels hate in a new way Lily hates her father.
It isn't because of her parents' divorce. When her mother remarried and had a baby Lily could cope with it. But it hasn't been the same for her younger brother, Michael.
Michael decides he wants to live with their father, and as much as they want to stop him, they have to let him go. When Michael ends up suddenly coming home again, only Lily knows why. She doesn't tell anyone the true story.
Lily knows that one of the Ten Commandments says “Honor thy father”—but what if he doesn't deserve it? Her feelings are justified, but where can she turn to find a way to forgive?
Excerpt from A Friend at Midnight copyright © 2006
by Caroline B. Cooney. Published by Delacorte Press.
Michael. Age eight. Alone at Balti-more/Washington International Airport without a ticket?
“Do you have York?” she asked.
“I don't have anything. I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't pack.”
When Mom finds out, she'll bring in the FBI and ten lawyers, thought Lily.
Mom was a nice, good-humored person, but her post-divorce anger rose easily to the surface and she would take advantage of this. She'd bypass Michael for this huge and lovely chance to get even. She would get Dad jailed.
You would think there could be nothing worse than being abandoned by your father. But there was something worse. If bad things happened to his father, that eight-year-old would hold himself responsible. Michael would tumble and smash like the loser in some horrible Chutes and Ladders game.
But he could not stay alone in an airport. Anything could happen, something really hideously terrible. “Flag down a cop, Michael. There have to be dozens wandering around an airport.”
“No.”
“I'll talk to them. You don't have to.”
“No!”
What if the police kept Michael? Some judge in Maryland might put Michael in a foster home or some halfway house with real criminals. And how long would they keep him? Maybe not just overnight. Maybe weeks or months. And what if some sick and twisted judge—because according to the news, the world was full of them—decided Michael still belonged with Dad?
Because to the judge, Dad might claim it was just a misunderstanding.
And maybe it was.
Lily would keep Michael on this line and use her cell to call Dad. Dad would have an explanation.
“Are you still there?” Michael's voice was shaky.
Who cares about an explanation? Lily thought. What he'd better have is a plane ticket. “I'm here. I'm telephoning Dad. You stay on the line while I get my cell. You know what, Michael? Maybe on his way to the parking lot Dad had a fender bender. Because he didn't mean for you to be alone, Michael. It was careless of him to drop you off, but he thought he'd be back in a second.”
“He's not parking the car, Lily. He told me I'm no
t the son he had in mind. And then he drove away.”
A hand landed on Michael's shoulder. A voice said, “You okay?”
Michael had been wholly absorbed by his sister's voice and the background music of Nathaniel screaming his name. He'd pressed his face into the silvery chrome of the phone box, getting closer to Lily. So rarely had Michael cried in his life that for a moment he
couldn't figure out how his face had gotten all wet.
The man bending over him must be a pilot; blue uniform with several insignia including wings. Michael wiped away the tears with the back of his hand. “Sure, I'm okay,” he said. “Just saying good-bye to my sister.”
“Airports are all about saying good-bye,” agreed the pilot. “But who's with you, son? I don't see anybody in the whole room.”
He was right. There were no longer kids playing, or parents watching, or a couple kissing by the window. Michael was alone. Post-9/11, airports hated anything unusual. Michael couldn't stop being eight and he couldn't stop being alone, but he could stop crying and he could fake a family. He dragged out the grandmother excuse again.