

Mitty begins to think that he has acquired smallpox and is developing symptoms. He inhales dust from one of the scabs which crumbles as he handles them without him knowing it and later believes that he has lost one of the scabs that he was going to use as part of his project to improve his grade.

Inside the book, Mitty finds an old envelope containing 100-year-old scabs from Variola major (a severe form of smallpox) from an epidemic in 1902. What he discovers in the book changes his life forever.

During a trip to his family's home in the Connecticut countryside that the Blakes visit nearly every weekend, Mitty finds some old medical books from Boston in 1902. Derek talks about anthrax constantly and egotistically, while the studious Olivia tries to help Mitty with his research. His friend Derek has chosen the topic of anthrax while his crush Olivia has chosen typhoid. Lynch assigns him to write a report about an infectious disease, Mitty has no idea what virus to research. He is carefree and does not worry much about his grades or school. Mitchell "Mitty" Blake is a teenage boy who lives in New York City with his parents. The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy also marked the book as one of their Young Adults' Choices for 2007. The novel won a National Science Teachers Association recommendation and has been frequently used in classrooms. Code Orange is a 2005 young adult novel by Caroline B.
