Extraordinary Means

Extraordinary Means is a young adult novel by American author Robyn Schneider, first published in 2016. Centering on Lane, an awkward and ambitious high school student who is diagnosed with a rare, drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, the novel follows him as he’s sent to the remote boarding school and sanitorium Latham House, a relaxed environment that isolates these highly contagious teenage patients among each other as the on-site doctors attempt to cure them with experimental medicine. There, he meets his former summer camp crush Sadie, who is a fellow patient who has been quarantined there for a year. As the two teenagers attempt to come to grips with their sudden mortality, a passionate romance develops between them and a strong friendship is formed among the group of patients. Exploring themes of teenage mortality and what really matters in life, Extraordinary Means was widely praised for its heartfelt and nuanced depiction of the issues involved, and was embraced by fans of the similarly-themed hit book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Extraordinary Means begins as Lane Rosen is going into his final year of high school, and has his life planned out. The ambitious teen has filled his days with extracurriculars, planning to go to an elite college and wind up on Wall Street, and has neglected his social life. Then he gets diagnosed with a rare, incurable stream of tuberculosis known as TDR-TB. Highly contagious, he’s sent to Latham House, a sanitarium in the Santa Cruz mountains. All the residents are teens, and the focus is on keeping them healthy as long as possible to see if medical treatments prove effective. Lane gets a medical alert bracelet that monitors his vitals, and is left on his own to explore the place. He soon meets Nikhil “Nick” Patel, a fellow patient who becomes his first friend, who fills him in on the rules in the place. He spies a blonde girl named Sadie, who doesn’t seem to care about following the rules, but doesn’t talk to her despite her seeming familiar. He later places her, realizing they went to summer camp together in eighth grade, and he remembers her being an avid photographer.

Lane is examined by Dr. Barons, who warns him about two lesions on his right lung and puts him on a strict schedule to keep him healthy and relaxed. Lane decides to largely ignore this and concentrate on his schoolwork so he can graduate on time, not really accepting how serious this is. Sadie, meanwhile, has been at Latham House since she was a sophomore and passed out in gym class one day. At her old school she was a loner, but at Latham House she’s become close friends with Nick, and her friends Marina and Charlie. She remembers Lane, but doesn’t want to meet him because he only remembers her as the loner girl instead of who she is now. He approaches her and is nice to her, but she’s resistant to getting to know him. This is because at the camp she was the victim of a cruel prank by popular girls who made her think Lane was asking her to a dance and instead let her show up and stand by herself the whole night. It was also the summer her parents were divorcing, and she’d rather forget the whole period.



Lane is puzzled by how Sadie reacts to him, and spends time talking to his girlfriend Hannah back home whom he helps with her college admissions essay. Sadie continues to be mean to Lane in class the next day, and he learns that she thinks he’s not as sick as she is. She doesn’t know he has a drug-resistant strain of the illness and the standard drugs will kill him. He has a hard time making friends at Latham House, while frequently seeing Sadie sneaking off into the woods with her friends. He helps them from being discovered when they break the rules, and when Sadie refuses to thank him he confronts her about what she has against him. After she explains, he tells her that he never wrote the notes to her, and she realizes she was blaming him for something he never did.

Lane wakes up sick the next day, and later breaks up with Hannah after a fight with her over her admissions essay, which was about him and his illness. Sadie sees he’s miserable and comes over to talk with him. They bond over their mutual situation. Lane’s health begins to go downhill, and Dr. Barons tells him he can’t keep trying to keep up with his schoolwork instead of relaxing. Lane agrees, and becomes part of Sadie’s group of friends. As he joins them on their adventures, breaking the rules, he starts to enjoy himself more, and he and Sadie become closer. Then, Dr. Barons tells him he may be a possibility for an experimental treatment, which will begin in a few weeks if his health continues to stay stable.

On Marina’s birthday, the group goes into the woods to celebrate. However, Charlie doesn’t join them when they come back. His body is found in the woods, having died in his sleep. Everyone knows they have to keep quiet because otherwise they’ll be kicked out of Latham House. Everyone agrees to stay out of the woods, but Sadie decides to go back to meet with her dealer, who’s been providing her with goods from the outside. Michael, her dealer, attacks her when she gets there. He contracted tuberculosis and blames her. She’s seriously injured, and although the doctors attempt to save her, she doesn’t make it. Lane is left alone to confront an uncertain future, as he begins his experimental treatment, but he knows that while she’s gone, Sadie taught him how to live no matter how much time he has.



Robyn Schneider is an American author with a background in creative writing and medical ethics. She is the author of six major works, and is best known for the best-selling The Beginning of Everything.