Lane's comfortably completely laid out life plan has just collapsed on itself. A senior in high school, Lane was looking forward to taking the SATs, seeking and receiving early admission to Stanford, then move on to graduate school before getting married and having an amazing career. He is smart, driven, but didn't take into account that tuberculosis could stop him in his tracks. Now sick, his family has sent him to Latham House, a sanatorium where teens who have contracted the incurable strain of tuberculosis are being treated while scientists continue their research into discovering a cure.
Since incurable tuberculosis is, by definition, incurable, most teens sent to Latham House don't expect they will ever leave this place. As a school, the academic demands are minimal. As a hospital, everyone is focused on wellness and ensuring that patients don't overexercise their brains or their muscles, thus triggering a coughing fit. Lane expects to come to Latham House, continue his studies, and recuperate quickly enough to be sent home so he can apply to college.
On his first day there, he is stood up by his guide, and he has to go to the dining hall by himself. When Lane discovers that his guide in fact died in the night, it hits him that for many people Latham is the last place they will live. In the dining hall he recognizes a girl he was attracted to during a summer camp experience three years ago when they were both thirteen. The Sadie he knew was an awkward and shy girl. Not this Sadie. She is outspoken and wears her passion on her sleeves. Lane immediately finds himself even more attracted to her. Sadie, however, remember summer camp and the fact that Lane stood her up at the camp dance.
Finally able to resolve this misunderstanding, Lane joins Sadie's group of misfits and troublemakers, and soon learns that living life doesn't need to mean the journey is already all planned. All of the teens at Latham House have learned the hard way that you need to live in the moment.
As Lane and Sadie fall in love, he realizes that sickness could take it all away. Lane, Sadie and their friends dare to break rules. Some rules, however, are meant to protect them from themselves and from becoming sicker. When one of their own dies, they are forced to re-evaluate their lives.
Told from Lane and Sadie's perspective in alternating chapters, Extraordinary Means continues the exploration of teens finding themselves afflicted with incurable diseases. Fans of Quarantine: A Love Story will appreciate the realistic portrayal and the feelings shared by two teens in love.
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