• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 8 to 12
• Reading age: 12 to 18

Bran's taking the recycling down to the basement when the lights go out and the elevator stalls.

Bran's phone's dead, he can hear screaming, but he can't get out. Eventually, he manages to pry the doors open to find that something's very wrong. His own mother can't remember his name, there is this black slime dripping out of her ear and then she kills their cat. Bran runs. Outside, Vancouver is teeming with people acting strangely, and they all have the same black slime in their ears. What is going on and how can Bran stop it?

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for teen readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read! The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Tash McAdam is a Welsh Canadian author of several books for young people, including Blood Sport in the Orca Soundings line and The Psionics series (Nine Star Press). Tash identifies as trans and queer and uses the neutral pronoun they. They teach high school English and computer science and have a couple of black belts in karate. They live in Vancouver.

Tash McAdam's profile page

• Commended, CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens

“A tightly plotted, highly appealing story with bite.”

Kirkus Reviews

“This edge-of-your-seat adventure will be welcome in schools and public libraries looking to reach out to this population. Recommended.”

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

“A page-turning, terrifying, and ultimately satisfying contagion adventure in the world of high/low lit.”

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