Black River Falls by Jeff Hirsch (review)

Cardinal has gotten used to keeping his distance, since he is one of very few people in Black River Falls who didn’t catch the town’s rampant virus, and he doesn’t want to get it now. The virus has little physical impact but it does rob victims of their personal memories, so Cardinal’s former bully is now his amnesiac best friend, and together the two care for kids who are infected. Two things finally penetrate Cardinal’s quiet reflection: a girl breaks down his defenses, and a private corporation swoops in to replace the National Guard to get the town back on track. With Cardinal as narrator, the action moves slowly in the first part of the novel—he is clearly avoiding some very painful memories around his own family and the night the virus hit, and he’s a contemplative kid prone to philosophical musings about life, heroism, and the impact memory has on identity. Once the bad guys arrive and Hannah grabs his attention, however, his narration becomes sharper as he realizes how this virus actually came to be and what he can do to save his beloved town. Hirsch is skilled at creating lost protagonists who need a jolt, and fans will appreciate this quiet, well-rendered look at a boy who’s suffering more from being stuck in his own memories than the townsfolk who lost all of their own.