Harry and Mary escape by the skin of their teeth onto one of the fenced paths into the Forest. They come to the end of the path, and Beth about has a hissy-fit. They come across the town from which Gabrielle had come, which has been overrun. A few months before the novel begins, Mary's father went out into the Forest, never to return. The Sisterhood praise God for allowing their village to continue to thrive despite the increasing number of Unconsecrated undead that roam the Forest. Mary knows it was Gabrielle's village, though it's also been overrun by zombies. Enter Mary. Mary wonders what that kind of a world would be like, without the Forest of Hands and Teeth and the Unconsecrated. The Forest of Hands and Teeth By Carrie Ryan Summary . "[2] MTV called it "a pretty freakin' amazing, empowering and absolutely thrilling young-adult post-apocalyptic zombie love story. Mary and Travis run into each other at the Hill and have a nice make-out session. She just can't quit thinking about her ocean. In the meantime, Mary notices that a girl in a bright red vest entered the village from Outside and is locked in a room in the Cathedral. But Mary is in love with Travis. ... And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Mary's mother is ultimately killed by the Unconsecrated while looking among them at the fence for her disappeared husband. Mary slides down the rope to help him, but he's already on his way to becoming a zombie. Mary now awaits one of two futures: either she will be married, or she will be brought to the Sisterhood, a group that controls the village, its laws, and people. Mary leaves everyone in the dust and scoots into the Forest to find the ocean. While escaping that village, Travis is killed helping the others escape. The The Forest of Hands and Teeth Community Note includes chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and … Mary must escape, find true love, and friendship while figuring out the mystery behind the other gates and fences. The Unconsecrated dogpile her, and she'd be dead, except that Jed saves her life. Luckily for her, some zombies finally break down the house door, forcing her and the Travster to get outta there. Bummer. Once upon a time, a fenced-in village existed in the middle of a Forest infested by the Unconsecrated (i.e. At the Sisterhood, Mary is proposed to by Harry, whose sister has married Jed, and whose younger brother, Travis, is engaged to Mary's best friend, Cassandra. Before Mary can answer, the village sirens start a-wailing, which is code for… zombies in the house. Beth is later killed as she is infected. help you understand the book. And pops the question—yup, that question. Mary lives in a town ruled by the Sisterhood and the Guardians. Jed saves Mary's life, only to disappear among the Unconsecrated. The gang wanders down the path for a while before stumbling upon another village. The forest thus profoundly influences all the action of the novel. The Forest of Hands and Teeth Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion on Mary and Travis have a heart-to-heart, and Mary realizes that she needs more than the Travster to be happy. Travis saves the day by running the rope through Zombieville to the gates, though he also gets himself bitten in the process. Menu. However, the arrival of a stranger, an Outsider named Gabrielle, who is thrown to the Unconsecrated and becomes one herself, paves the way for the breaching of the fences. This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion on The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. Mary falls into the water of a river, and when she wakes up, a man is hacking off the heads of the undead. Where the two paths lead, no one knows, for the Sisterhood says the village is the only human habitation left on Earth. And pops the question—yup, that question. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. There are only three ways through the fence: gates that open on paths that are themselves enclosed by fencing, expelling those who've been infected. Jacob accidentally starts a fire and burns down the village, so it's go time—so much for waiting for the weather to cool down. The Forest Of Hands And Teeth Summary Gradesaver forest of hands and teeth chapter summary is important information accompanied by photo and HD pictures sourced from all websites in the world. When the novel begins, Mary lives a simple life in the village that is enclosed by the Forest, which is in turn, kept out by a fence. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Order our The Forest of Hands and Teeth Study Guide, teaching or studying The Forest of Hands and Teeth. She is especially fascinated by the ocean and believes if she could reach it, she would be free. She's minding her own business, washing her clothes in the stream, when her childhood pal Harry pays her a visit. Mary has been raised on stories passed down from her great-great-great-grandmother about life before the coming of zombies. So Mary joins the Sisterhood, led by the power-hungry Sister Tabitha. Mary's father has gone off into the Forest, and never come back. Instead of waking up to church bells, the village wakes up to the screaming of the sirens. As the story opens, an unexplained disaster has turned much of the human race into mindless, cannibalistic undead. Drama. Insofar as this means she can escape the Sisterhood, this is a pretty awesome development; but insofar as she's in love with Harry's brother, it's pretty lame. Thanks to Argos and his furry jaws of death, Mary shoves Travis into the attic and swims through a sea of zombies unscathed. Guardians act as soldiers and also repair the fence. The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a New York Times best-selling post-apocalyptic zombie novel by first-time author Carrie Ryan that is marketed to young adults. However, the fence that protects these villagers also imprisons them within a dystopian society marked by violence, secrecy, and repression. Mary visits him every day and "prays" with him… which means she actually just tells him stories about the ocean. flesh-gobbling zombies). The Forest of Hands and Teeth debuted in the US to critical acclaim, receiving starred reviews from School Library Journal[1] and Publishers Weekly, which described the book as "fresh and riveting. [16] Kate Maberly will write and direct the feature with Doug Liman and Fred Roos is set to produce. He explains that he lives in the lighthouse up the shore, and his job is to kill the undead to keep them out of the nearby town. In Chapter 1, Mary remembers her mother telling her about the ocean, and remembers a photograph of her grandmother standing in the water. Save yourselves, people. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Shmoop and verify that you are over the age of 13. Turns out the ocean is at the end of the river (funny how that works). While the rest of the gang escapes into the tree house part of the village (zombies aside, Shmoop wants to go there), Mary and Travis end up stuck in a big ol' house together. This is the first volume of a trilogy; the second book in the series, The Dead-Tossed Waves, was released on March 9, 2010 and The Dark and Hollow Places followed in March 2011. You know that phrase about how the best laid plans are meant to be broken? Mary asks Travis to come for her and whisk her away from Harry, but before he can answer, they catch a glimpse of Gabrielle, who is now a super-zombie and totally freaky. Mary consents to Harry's proposal, ultimately hoping she and Travis can find a way to be together. While cooped up in the Cathedral, Mary finds out her other childhood pal, Travis, has a ridiculously bad leg injury and the Sisters are taking care of him. See, her mom really wants to find her newly zombified hubby, and Mary knows that because she stayed away too long her mom probably got too close to the fence while looking for him and is now infected herself. There are only three ways through the fence: gates that open on paths that are themselves enclosed by fencing, expelling those who've been infected. Ah, shucks. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. Where the two paths lead, no one knows, for the Sisterhood says the village is the only human habitation left on Earth. The gang is back to wandering through the Forest, and by this point everyone's depressed and starving. The others agree to head back to the forest paths once the weather cools down. So much for getting to know her. Mary lives in a town ruled by the Sisterhood and the Guardians. She's minding her own business, washing her clothes in the stream, when her childhood pal Harry pays her a visit. Movies. They're joined by Travis and Cass, Jed and Beth, a little boy named Jacob, and Mary's new pooch, Argos. See ya, village, wouldn't wanna be ya. [15] The film is now with Hetherwood Productions and was in production as of May 2016. She finds out her name is Gabrielle and is eager to learn more about her and where she's from. ... Carrie Ryan is the New York Times bestselling author of the Forest of Hands and Teeth series, Daughter of Deep Silence, and Infinity Ring: Divide and Conquer as well as the editor of Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction. Yep—he decided to help her follow her dream. Mary hightails it for the village, knowing full well as she hustles along that this siren went off because she dilly-dallied at the stream.