The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

   I ventured into my first taste of zombies with this novel. It was recommended by another librarian and someone else told me it was a cross between the Hunger Games and Twilight. Never having read Twilight, but the Hunger Games is my all time favorite, I figured I'd give this one a try.  As the story opens, an unexplained disaster has turned much of the human race into mindless, cannibalistic undead. They roam the forest of the title, seeking to destroy a band of survivors barricaded inside a walled village deep in the woods. However, the fence that protects these villagers also imprisons them within a dystopian society marked by violence, secrecy, and repression. The forest thus profoundly influences all the action of the novel. Mary lives in a town ruled by the Sisterhood, and the Guardians. The village is surrounded by fences, beyond lies forest. There are only three ways through the fence—gates that open on paths that are themselves enclosed by fencing, expelling those who've been infected. Where the two paths lead, no one knows, for the Sisterhood says the village is the only human habitation left on Earth.
Mary has been raised on stories passed down from her great-great-great-grandmother about life before the coming of zombies. She is especially fascinated by the ocean and believes if she could reach it, she'd be free. The book mainly tells the story of Mary and a handful of others who are forced to flee their town and travel down the paths through the forest. The Forest of Hands and Teeth is not for the faint of heart. There are many graphic descriptions of the zombies and their actions. Be forewared!!