At St. Joan’s school for girls, life has always been simplistic. Boring, even. And with college admissions being sent and received every other day, it’s a stressful environment. Suddenly, though, everything changes when the most popular girl in the school abruptly breaks out in an inconsolable fit of strange tics. Then, her best friend loses all of her hair, and another girl seems to be completely unable to walk. Soon enough, the strange, eerie epidemic is spreading around school, and Colleen Rowley, a smart student with an extra credit assignment that hints at the truth, knows exactly where she is. Salem Village, Massachusetts.