Love Is the Drug

by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Overview

Emily Bird was raised not to ask questions. She has perfect hair, the perfect boyfriend, and a perfect Ivy-League future. But a chance meeting with Roosevelt David, a homeland security agent, at a party for Washington DC's elite leads to Bird waking up in a hospital, days later, with no memory of the end of the night.



Meanwhile, the world has fallen apart: A deadly flu virus is sweeping the nation, forcing quarantines, curfews, even martial law. And Roosevelt is certain that Bird knows something. Something about the virus—something about her parents' top secret scientific work—something she shouldn't know.



The only one Bird can trust is Coffee, a quiet, outsider genius who deals drugs to their classmates and is a firm believer in conspiracy theories. And he believes in Bird. But as Bird and Coffee dig deeper into what really happened that night, Bird finds that she might know more than she remembers. And what she knows could unleash the biggest government scandal in US history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545417815
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	09/30/2014
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	605,237
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.40(d)
Lexile:	840L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Alaya Dawn Johnson’s first novel for young adults, THE SUMMER PRINCE, received three starred reviews, was longlisted for the National Book Award, and was a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. She grew up in Washington, D.C., attended Columbia University, and now lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

This action-packed narrative is beautifully complicated by [Emily] Bird's persistent identity crisis, through which the personal and the political collide. As a black girl growing up in Washington, Bird is keenly aware of the city's racial and socio-economic inequities, systemic injustices thrown into sharp relief by the pandemic crisis…Johnson captures wondrously complex dynamics in the simplest of interactions…

The New York Times Book Review - Robin Wasserman

07/28/2014
Emily Bird knows what she’s supposed to do: graduate from her posh Washington, D.C., prep school; attend an Ivy League school; hold onto her appropriate boyfriend; keep her too-kinky hair chemically tamed; and assume her place among the elite. But a flu pandemic, which may be bioterrorism, means drones, tanks, quarantines, and more work for Emily’s parents—government scientists so busy that they don’t come home when Emily ends up in the hospital. That’s where Johnson’s story starts, with Emily under government observation, wondering whom to trust, and trying to figure out whether she’s ready to quit being good-girl Emily and become independent Bird. Johnson (The Summer Prince) blends high school drama, cloak-and-dagger intrigue, race and class inequities, coming of age, and a passionate love story, blending these disparate elements into a narrative that both requires and repays attention. Watching Bird make her way through a world filled with dangers—biological, political, personal—and find not just love, but also herself, makes for rewarding reading. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Summer Prince



*"Like leaping into cold water on a hot day, this original dystopian novel takes the breath away, refreshes, challenges, and leaves the reader shivering but yearning for another plunge." — Booklist, starred review



*"With its complicated history, founding myth, and political structure, Palmares Tres is compelling, as is the triple bond between June, Enki, and Gil as they challenge their world's injustices." — Publishers Weekly, starred review



*"An art project, a rebellion and a sacrifice make up this nuanced, original cyberpunk adventure.... Luminous." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review



Longlisted for the National Book Award



A Kirkus Best Book of the Year

From the Publisher

★ 2014-06-30
Lost memories, a deadly pandemic flu and the children of D.C.'s elite come together in this sophisticated bio-thriller.When Emily Bird wakes up in the hospital, the last thing she remembers is attending a party at a senator's home eight days earlier. She's told she had an accident after taking some bad designer drugs, but a threatening visit from a national security contractor whom Bird met at the party suggests the truth isn't so simple. Meanwhile, the entire Beltway is under an oppressive and all-too-believable quarantine and curfew thanks to a virulent new strain of flu. Bird's parents, two prominent black scientists, want her to avoid trouble after her misadventure, but she can't resist investigating. She finds an unlikely ally in Coffee, a diplomat's son who uses drugs and deals them to others but who also sees strength in Bird that she struggles to see in herself. Johnson, who astounded with her cyberpunk teen debut, The Summer Prince (2013), immerses readers in the complexities of Bird's world, especially her fraught relationship with her parents and the intersections of race and class at her elite prep school. The often lyrical third-person, present-tense narration, the compelling romance and the richly developed cast of characters elevate this novel far above more formulaic suspense fare.Utterly absorbing. (Suspense. 13 & up)

Kirkus Reviews

07/01/2014
Gr 10 Up—Her mother calls her Emily, but she calls herself by her last name, Bird, and so does Alonso, known as Coffee, the strangely compelling drug-dealer and diplomat's son who attends Bird's private Washington, DC, school. When Bird wakes up after eight days in a coma to discover she was drugged at a party and left with no memory of what happened, she turns to Coffee for help—even though the authorities, including the mysterious Roosevelt, insist that he was the one who poisoned her. But Emily suspects that Roosevelt, her boyfriend Paul, and possibly even her scientist parents are involved in a conspiracy: a conspiracy that is connected to the Venezuelan flu, a virus planted by terrorists that is currently killing hundreds of thousand around the globe. The author of The Summer Prince (Scholastic, 2013) writes beautifully, but the convoluted premise can be tough to swallow, and the lyrical quality of her writing does not always mesh with the high-octane plot. The story is strongest when following Bird, a self-described "assimilated" DC black girl, as she tries to stay true to herself amid not only the terror of the quarantine, but also the restrictive expectations and assumptions of her family and classmates. Teens looking for a fast-paced tale with diverse characters will find it in Johnson's latest offering.—Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA

School Library Journal

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