The year is 1918.  America is fighting a war on foreign soil that has divided the nation.  Meanwhile, rumors of the spread of the deadliest epidemic ever are causing panic on the home front.  The uninfected town of Commonwealth, Washington, votes to quarantine itself, and two young friends are asked to guard the town entrance and keep strangers out.
 
One day, a starving, cold - and seemingly ill - soldier comes out of the woods begging for sanctuary, and the two guards are confronted with an agonizing moral dilemma.
 
So begins The Last Town on Earth, a novel by Thomas Mullen, which has been selected as the 2009 new student summer reading assignment.  All new students are asked to read The Last Town on Earth and be prepared to participate in a small group discussion of the book with your resident assistant (RA) and student academic adviser (SA) during the fall new student orientation program.