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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Dystopian Pick: The Eleventh Plague

The Eleventh Plague
by Jeff Hirsch
Scholastic
2011
304 pages (Amazon website has page count at 304; the arc from Scholastic has 288 pages)

Watch the book trailer here

Grim, ghostly, and gritty, this solid page turner will resonate with dystopian fans. Stephen and his father live in a world gone horribly wrong. After a strike against China, the Chinese send a deadly plague, P11, which races across the countryside killing nearly everyone--only the unlucky survive.

It doesn't take long for governments to crumble and the infrastructure to cease--there is no electricity, no clean water, no cities, only roaming bands of pillagers, scavengers, and slavers. Stephen and his father scavenge for whatever they can find to trade for food and matches. They roam the shadows, afraid of running into others--those who would steal from them, kill them, or worse--make them slaves.

Stephen soon finds himself alone when his father is injured. A group of men take Stephen to a settlement where they offer food and safety. In a world where there are no rules, how will Stephen know who to trust?

After a harrowing run-in with another group of survivors, Stephen decides to stay in Settler's Landing and begin his life again--in this new world. Maybe there is a future...

Recommended grades 7-up.
Listen to the audiobook here

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

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