Em Garner's "Contaminated"

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Em Garner has been writing stories since she learned to spell and watching movies for longer than that. Her favorite stories and films are the ones that feature things that go bump in the night. Ghosts, vampires, monsters of all sorts and of course, zombies.

Garner’s dream cast for the movie adaptation of her new novel, Contaminated:

Contaminated isn’t about zombies. Not really. Connies aren’t the risen undead, but rather our neighbors, teachers, friends and family who had the bad luck to drink contaminated protein water that’s now left them incapable of controlling their violent impulses. Connies don’t feel pain or feel like uncontaminated people, but they’re still human. So, Contaminated is really about how we take care of the people we love, even when they’ve become different from how we knew them.

Velvet Ellis at seventeen is in charge of taking care of her younger sister Opal, and also her mother Malinda, who’s been contaminated but is now released into her daughter’s care. Fitted with a shocking collar that keeps her from becoming violent, Malinda is not supposed to be able to take care of herself in many ways, but she proves otherwise.

For Velvet, I’d love to see Emma Watson. I think she’s got the perfect combination of vulnerability and strength that Velvet has.

Opal’s a little tougher to cast. Willow Shields was so excellent as Prim in The Hunger Games, I think she’d be a great Opal! Smart, sassy and strong.

And, though it might not seem like an obvious choice, Angelina Jolie would be my dream Malinda. Beautiful but with the capability of looking frail and strong at the same time. Jolie’s also an actress who’s not afraid to look ugly. She’d be a great Malinda.

Dillon, the nice boy who befriends Velvet and her family, should be played by One Direction’s Harry Styles. Why? Because my daughter loves him!

Going one step further, I’d like Ed Sheeran to write the movie’s theme song.

Learn more about the book and author at Em Garner's website and Facebook page.

The Page 69 Test: Contaminated.

--Marshal Zeringue