Quarantine: A Love Story

by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc

Overview

When two teens are exposed to a highly contagious disease, they must spend 30 days in quarantine together. In that time, love will bloom — but is it the real thing or just a placebo effect?

Oliver wants a girlfriend, and there's a girl back home who might be interested in him. The problem is, he has to spend his spring break on a volunteer trip in the Dominican Republic. Flora, on the other hand, isn't really looking for a boyfriend. She just wants to end a miserable spring break visiting her dad and her new stepmom in the D.R.The solution to both their problems? Get back home to New York ASAP. Sadly, they won't be getting there anytime soon.Their hopes are dashed when Flora's impulsiveness lands them in quarantine — just the two of them. Now, the two teens must come together in order to survive life in a bubble for 30 days. In that time, love will bloom. But is it the real thing, or just a placebo effect? In her debut novel, Katie Cicatelli-Kuc delivers an introspective and witty story about finding love in the most unexpected place.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338724318
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	1,058,951
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Katie Cicatelli-Kuc spent a decade working as an in-house copy editor for major publishing houses before becoming a full-time freelancer and mom. She lives in Beacon, New York.

Editorial Reviews

03/01/2019

Gr 6–9—Flora and Oliver, high school students traveling from the Dominican Republic, meet by chance on an airplane. Unfortunately, Oliver's original seatmate is ill with a new form of mononucleosis, so when they land, all passengers are detained for testing. In a desperate move for attention, Flora rubs the thermometer to show a fever and impetuously kisses Oliver. The two are quarantined together. Thus begins their flirtatious, push-and-pull romance. Despite the intriguing premise, flaws abound. The voices of the two leads, who narrate in alternating chapters, are indistinct. The young doctor, Joey, is more intent on getting a date or a medical journal write-up than about health care. Kelsey, Oliver's so-called girlfriend, is a one-dimensional, self-centered media junkie. None of these characters have flesh to their skeletal structures. Also, unbelievable situations (and issues of consent) are stretched to the breaking point. VERDICT While younger middle school readers will like the "awwww" factor in this tame romance, they will ultimately be disappointed. Give them Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen instead.—Lisa Ehrle, formerly at Falcon Creek Middle School, CO

School Library Journal

2018-11-25

Despite the title's promise, romance takes too long to blossom.

On their way home to Brooklyn from the Dominican Republic, Flora Thornton, who is assumed white, kisses half-Mexican/(presumably) half-white Oliver Russell, and the two teenagers, who are diagnosed with a rare form of mononucleosis dubbed "tropical mono," are forced into quarantine together in a Miami hospital. (It's not clear how tropical mono differs from regular mono.) In actuality, Flora figured that quarantine would be a much-needed break from her life, so she messed with her thermometer reading to make it look as though she had a fever. To help Oliver elicit the attention of his crush, Kelsey, Flora comes up with a hashtag, #quaranteens, to share their experiences on social media. Along with Flora's and Oliver's mothers, Kelsey becomes a regular visitor to the #quaranteens—visitors are permitted (although kissing them is off limits) as long as they wear protective gear. It is clear from the outset that Kelsey is only interested in Oliver because she hopes that he will garner her attention on social media. Chapters alternate between Flora's and Oliver's points of view and are not long enough for readers to fully invest in either protagonist for long.

By the time Oliver and Flora finally get together, readers will have lost interest in this novel's obvious conclusion. (Romance. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews