Author Interview: Courtney Summers

Today, I'd like to welcome Courtney Summers, the author of This is Not a Test to my blog. 

A bit about Courtney (as found on her website): Courtney Summers was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada in 1986 and currently resides in a small town not far from there. When she was 14, she dropped out of high school so she could pursue her education. Now she writes gritty young adult novels. It is the best job ever. 

This Is Not A Test features a group of teens who have sought shelter from zombies at a high school. What do you miss the most about high school? What do you miss the least?

I left high school to pursue my education independently in the ninth grade and there's not a whole lot I miss about it, to be honest. I liked little things, like the funny video announcements the broadcast club put together but I don't really miss them per se.  
The things that I miss the least ... those, I can list! :) I don't miss getting up early, the bus ride, going to class, homework – the usual kind of stuff!

All of your previous books have been contemporaries. What made you decide to write a post-apocalyptic novel instead?
I've always really loved zombies, so it was only a matter of time before I wrote a novel about them. All of my contemporary novels are very character-driven, usually about people coping with extreme situations and I find the zombie stories I'm interested in most are basically like that as well, so overall it wasn't too unexpected or out of my comfort zone to write one myself.

If a zombie apocalypse had occurred while you were a teen, would your teenage self have been a leader like Cary, a follower like Harrison or somewhere in the middle? Oh, and which character from the novel would she have been hanging out with?
I think I would have been a bit like Harrison and a little bit like Grace – some kind of combination of the two. Neither assumed leadership roles and I wouldn't want to either. I assume I'd cry a lot like Harrison, but I also like to think I'd be a little more socially on the ball like Grace. Hopefully!

The zombies are coming and you have no time to grab anything. What do you have on your person and how do you deal with the undead?
Probably just the clothes on my back! And nothing useful. I would deal with the undead by giving them wide berth and running for my life. If contact was unavoidable, I would be willing to take on zombies in a car. And by that I mean I would run over them.

Let's be honest: If a zombie apocalypse ever occurred, I'd either be dead or one of the undead. What do you think would be your chances for survival?
As much as I'd like to think I would be awesome at it, it would surprise no one if I was turned into a zombie or eaten by one the very first day, and if not that, I'd probably injure myself and become a liability to the people I was with and they'd probably abandon me on the side of the road. Maybe having to confront this fact about myself in this answer will inspire me to brush up on my survival skills to better improve my odds, though? That would be nice!

A big thanks to Courtney for taking the time to answer my questions!

Courtney can be found on: [her website] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Goodreads]

This is Not a Test can be bought from: [Amazon] [Barnes and Noble] [The Book Depository]

Review: This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

From Goodreads: It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life - and death - inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

My Rating: 4.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: I’ve never been a big fan of zombies – I mean, when was the last time you read about zombies being sparkly and not wanting to eat humans? – but since I’m trying to read more books written by Canadian authors this year, I decided to request Courtney Summers’ This is Not a Test. I’m so glad I did because I just fell in love with a zombie novel for the first time!

This is Not a Test begins innocently enough with Sloane and her father quietly eating breakfast. But after the house shakes, Sloane’s father is suddenly killing a woman covered in blood and people are tearing into each other. I thought the start of This is Not a Test was fantastic since you dive into the action right away.

Summers then keeps you tense throughout the novel by making the main setting a school where Sloane and a few others barricade themselves while waiting for help to arrive. With nobody having a clue about what’s happening outside, there’s a constant latent threat that zombies will somehow find a way to break into the school or that the kids will eventually run out of food and have to venture out.

Besides the tightly written plot, I also enjoyed the characterization in This is Not a Test. Although Sloane was the main character, Summers developed each of her teens to such an extent that I ended up caring for all of them. The secondary characters actually felt as if they were more than secondary characters because everyone had their own secrets, motivations and experiences.

Since This is Not a Test felt like a survival story that just happened to have zombies in it, I was happy that Summers’ characters experienced believable emotions. They cooperated with each other; but they also fought, cried, and formed subgroups. Furthermore, I really liked that Summers didn’t shy away from having her characters make tough choices and sacrifice people for the greater good of the group.

My first Courtney Summers’ novel but certainly not my last, This is Not a Test will be released by St. Martin’s Griffin on June 19, 2012.         

Comments About the Cover: I don’t know what’s going on with the girl and her hair, but I like the melancholy vibe as it goes perfectly with Sloane’s decision to kill herself. The little droplets of blood are a nice additional touch.

In exchange for an honest review, this ARC was received from the publisher (Raincoast Books) for free.

original image from thegate.ca