Blog tour; Read at your own Peril, by Patrick Hueller

Kevin shouldn't be writing this. And you shouldn't be reading it. After all, reading is now a crime--and for good reason. After the Coma Outbreak, everyone knows what happens to people who read. Their eyes slam shut. And they never get out of their desks again.

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This quick read is utterly absorbing. Most of it is in the form of a diary, written by Kevin, looking back at the Coma Outbreak and explaining the aftermath. He avoided the coma only because he was in the bathroom when his classmates took out their books.

In the immediate aftermath, reading was banned, and kill squads very quickly started destroying books and painting over road signs. Suspiciously quickly, in Kevin's opinion, but what does he know?  He's just a kid who was lucky enough not to fall into a coma - or to wake up again afterwards, which is even worse, because they aren't normal anymore.

It's a quick read, almost a hi-lo, and it will captivate children who like an exciting read with something to think about afterwards. Patrick manages to bring in some clever details, like shop signs being replaced with stick figure signs, that really help to build out the world.

I enjoyed this and I'd read more by the author.