Locked Down

by Jessica Le Bas, Toby Morris (Illustrator)

Jesse O's award-winning novel about a deadly pandemic and a family in lockdown, rereleased with all new illustrations by Toby Morris.

The deadly influenza pandemic XB276 is sweeping the country. Twelve-year-old Zac wakes up one morning to the news that everyone must stay home.

He can’t leave the house for weeks, or even months. Pretty soon he’s facing running out of food, with no electricity, no telephone and no internet. The only people he can count on are his family and closest neighbours.

As Zac faces each new challenge living under lockdown, he discovers resources he never knew he had - and mysteries begging to be solved.

This prescient and gripping novel about a nation in lockdown was written following the H1N1 global pandemic. It won a Storylines Junior Fiction Award in 2011.

240 pages, Paperback

Published February 2, 2021

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, especially since it was written pre covid lockdowns. I found the side stories distracted from the main story too much

[Dan Organ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 2009 it is uncanny how relevant it is to the 2020 Covid 19 lockdown we lived through.

This book is written for young teens. With this in mind I give it three stars.

[Isa Rive · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hindsight is a strange thing. When this book was first written in 2010, only hard core survivalists might’ve had the possibility of the 2020 pandemic on their radar. But this author had one in their imagination and has created an upbeat story of a family in a time of crisis pulling together to become self-reliant. It’s interesting reading as the collapse of many ‘essential services’ occur. The story is engaging and I liked the characters but it feels too ‘safe’ for the turmoil of its situation. Suitable for upper primary.