Virus

Med Center #1

by Diane Hoh

When a lethal virus of unknown origin breaks out in Grant, Massachusetts, a group of hospital volunteers including wealthy Susannah, romantic Will, ambitious Kate, and scheming Callie find themselves caught in the middle of the chaos

Genres: Young Adult, Medical, Fiction, Own, Romance, Drama, Childrens

278 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1996

About the author

Diane Hoh is the author of fifty-seven novels for young adults. She grew up in Warren, Pennsylvania but currently resides in Austin, Texas. Reading and writing are her favorite things, alongside gardening and grandchildren.

Reviews

[Sheila Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exciting medical story written for young adults, but I think even older people would enjoy it.

[theperksofbeingmarissa ;) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book post Covid is an experience! 

(3.5 rounded up to 4 stars)

[Ingrid Suter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book when I was in middle school and never read it. I finally read it although it probably would have been better to read in my teen years than now. It’s definitely for young adults but felt bad donating it before ever reading it.

It was interesting to read this book post Covid as there are so many similarities. I hope they answer some open questions in the next book because so much is still up in the air. I guess we will see…

[Carolyn Dijk · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was pretty good. Probably directed at younger readers. But I found that for high school students and volunteers, the characters had too many liberties in the hospital which the volunteers in the hospital that I work in certainly would not be granted.

[Eekind · Rating 3 out of 5]

Punchy, thrilling, Mysterious and Heart pounding while having all these 17 year olds running around doing Residents / Nursing Assistant roles for some reason

Kind of obsessed that a book that’s clearly trying to profit off of the ER craze of the mid 90’s being almost 300 pages that’s partially padded with Teen dating drama but mostly vignettes of Residents of Grant Massachusetts failing Ill and getting in massive traumatic events like it’s Final Destination. You can really tell that Diane Hoh has a background in writing teen horror books, but is also being allowed to let loose with these crazy scenarios so long as they end with “and they were sick with the Esperanza Flu, so the Med Center volunteers realized the disease was spreading and getting worse”

I will say the mystery portion of the book did work for me. I 100% thought that Zack from the Music Room venue’s touring band was the main carrier. Partially because the book kept harping on the Music Room having to be the main point of the disease spreading. Also, it wasn’t clear that Mr Montgomery had the Typhoid Mary role, because the book also kept reminding us that he had basically no contact with anyone except for the people bringing the experimental herbs to his office in Brazil. Also I guess we’re supposed to assume that Tina Montgomery just spread the Esperanza Flu far and wide for the eight pages of screen time she had and that was enough to super charge the virus. Regardless of the fact there are multiple main characters that interact with her circumspectly or directly and don’t get sick. But that’s probably just my The Stand (1978) war flashbacks resurfacing when the whole point of that book is the disease is a bio weapon that has an unprecedented 99.7% virality rate

I did enjoy the plot point of different characters arguing about how and when to share info about the flu. I think it’s a little overblown given the world building of Med Center being an 18 building campus with world class Oncology and Orthopedic buildings. So when the cat gets out of the bag due to Callie Matthew’s explosive interview featuring her Christmas photo shoot at Glamour shots photo in the newspaper, everyone in the town does go into a panic but that’s just resolved by the staff giving everyone flu shots off page. I don’t expect the book to be a 1:1 reflection of real life but the plot point did go from the first thing out of all the volunteers mouths that they couldn’t agree on to just a non issue, and it’s hard not to feel like it was unnecessarily trivialized for no reason

Things the main 17 year old volunteers are doing during this book
+Call the emergency X Ray team for a girl that has severe flu and can barely breathe
+Taking down the vitals for a Teenage? Window cleaner that fell three stories onto a concrete parking lot and fucked up his leg
+Arriving at the scene to insist the EMTs and Fire Fighters wear masks to avoid contracting the Esperanza Flu
+Drive out to a isolated Berkshires Mountain Lodge with no landline in order to bring a man with Esperanza Flu antibodies back to Med Center in order to create the first vaccine in the world only to get in a terrible car accident where they need stitches

Things the other volunteers at Med Center Do
+ Hand out Magazines to In Patient Residents
+ Hand out Cafeteria Menus to Convalescing Patients

[Dustin Dye · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought Med Center: Virus at a book fair when I was in the seventh grade. I read about 2/3 of the book before putting it aside as it didn't grab my interest and I didn't retain any of what I'd read. I recently found the book in my parents' basement and read it with the hindsight of living through a pandemic. Some aspects are realistic, such as the coverup by the hospital. Others are laughable, such as the ease in finding patient zero and the speed with which a vaccine was produced. The level of access the hospital volunteers are given stretches credulity, but I can give that a pass for artistic license as the book needed teenage protagonists.

Overall, I found the book lazy and dry. The writing has no style, but is serviceable. Pretty much every creative decision is lazy. Diane Hoh probably had two weeks to crank out a draft, so she didn't spend any more time than necessary coming up with interesting details. The med center is referred to as "Med Center." The music club every character hangs out at every night is called The Music Room, and it's too convenient a location for much of the action. The characters are two-dimensional, and the wicked characters are over-the-top mean, like something out of a bad after-school special. Hoh seems to get her two black characters', Kate's and Will's, mothers mixed up, and this slipped through the editorial process. (Will's mother was never introduced in the book, but apparently she is a nurse, like Kate's, and Hoh attributes her for something Kate's mother said earlier.)

Young readers deserve better than this.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these when I was a "tweener," and plan to read them again at the and of this summer. I ordered all 6 from Goodwill's across the country, Jenson's Books, Once Upon a Time Books, etc.

It took me YEARS to remember this series! To find it again, ohhh...I am SO elated! 😊😁

I will edit these reviews once I re-read, as it has been almost a quarter century (omg, I'm getting old! XP)

P.S.

Her two books on the Titanic are on my re-read list as well. I bought them this time on Kindle. ;)

Thank you for all the amazing memories, Diane Hoh, and all the new ones that will be made from reading them again. You are wonderful! 🤗🎉

[B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this one when I was much much younger and I hadn't thought of it since then. I saw it in Goodwill a few days ago and grabbed it because I remembered it fondly. I decided to reread it to see if it was as good as remembered, and it was a bit plot light and the ending trailed off, but that being said, it reminded me where some of my unwavering belief in the CDC came from. It was a good trip down memory lane and it would be a good book for a little one to read (4-6th grade, somewhere in there) to get them interested in medicine.

[Miki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am new to this series and I am really enjoying these Med Center books (even though I am reading out of order). Twenty-four years before Covid we get an inside look of a med center dealing with something very similar. We get a firsthand look at how the medical staff deals with the beginnings of a pandemic. Although the CDC involvement was rushed the procedure was correct of how they work to deal with an unknown virus. Even though the target age for these books are tweens/teens I still enjoyed it. This series a must read. I highly recommend.

[Rebecca Kramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this series way back in the 90s and enjoyed it. I'm pre-reading it again for my kids. I think this book is the least heavy in the series and the oldest might enjoy it (age 10). As I recall, the rest of the series has more death. All in all, a decent read that tells kids what to do in situations without being preachy. The ending is a bit rushed, and as we are currently living through a virus, seems a bit too easy.

[Cindy]

DNF 50%

I hate how I have looked for this series for literal years but now that I have it I’m bored 😂 will probably finish this in the future but right now I’m too annoyed

[Madame Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

General Hospital for teens. The build-up was great than the ending flutters in 20 pages.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have such fond memories of this series from when I was a young teenager. It's a fun and quick (and very cheesy) medical drama, that was interesting to read again post-Covid.

[Hayden Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good I can’t wait to read book 2.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay, nothing amazing. I found it a little odd how involved these teenagers got in what was going on at this hospital. Shame that Abby wrecked Susannah's Mercedes. Not sure how these people would have coped with covid 🤣

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of six books in the series and I loved them as a teen; I still pick them up off my shelf and read them. They fascinated me with the medical drama going on with those my age and that teens were able to do procedures that in real life, it wouldn't be allowed. I feel in love with these books and sought them out. If you can suspend your concept of reality, you'll find drama, excitement, romance and more. It is even more enjoyable if you like medical fiction.

[Mauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the first book I read after my mother dragged me out of the kid's room at the library. Laura reminded me of their presence this past month and hauled them out of her room for me to enjoy. They're absolutely hysterical now that my reference for volunteering in an emergency room is, ya know, volunteering in an actual emergency room, rather than ER.

[2lemon_johnathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought Med center was an okay book it wasn't my favorite book but it wasn't bad. The only thing I didn't like were the long periods of nothing happening and less action. I also didn't like when Tina Montgomery died it made me very sad. Overall I thought it was to slow paced but if you like medical stories you'll like med center: Virus.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved these series.
Greys anatomy is a highly loved doctors show and it sometimes seem like that the ideas have been taken from this book.
I love Will. I wanted something to happen between him and Samantha.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite series as a kid ever!