Teaser: Imagine the world is nothing like you know it to be. Enter Stephen, as he tries to survive in a dystopian world that has had most of its residents die from influenza.
Plot Summary: Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family have survived one of the deadliest strains of influenza America has seen from the aftermath of war. The plague took two-thirds of the population. The only way for Stephen and his family to live is to become salvagers and keep moving. After Stephen’s grandfather dies and his father goes into a coma after an accident, Stephen happens upon a community known as Settler’s Landing. It is almost to good to be true as he is accepted into the community. As Stephen goes to school and participates in baseball he meets Jenny, a girl that is strong, rebellious, and mischievous. They plan a prank together that backfires and as they deal with the aftermath Settler’s Landing and their lives are changed forever.
Critical Evaluation: Stephen has lived his whole live as a salvager. When the story begins, he has just lost his grandfather and his father goes into a coma after an accident. Stephen is lucky to be taken in my a local community and the reader glimpses Stephen as a boy that does not like to make a scene. At first it seems as though this town is almost like 'Pleasantville', it is so perfect, but as the novel continues we learn things about the community that they wanted to be kept secret. Throughout the book Stephen stays true to himself and does not let the new kids change him. His friendship with Jenny introduces him to a whole new world. He begins to see the community in a different light. He tries new things and breaks rules for a change. When they decide to pull a prank on the town bully everything goes wrong and the lessons they learn from the aftermath make this book a worthwhile read. Teens will be able to relate to the reluctant hero of this story. Stephen is a believable character, he is a hesitant hero, and he is aware of the decisions he makes.
Author Information: According to the author’s website http://www.jeff-hirsch.com , he is from Richmond, VA and he studied acting at East Carolina University. He had always been interested in writing and after moving to New York to try to his hand at acting he decided to give writing a try and went to UC San Diego where he got an MFA in playwriting. He began to read famous young adult authors and was impressed with the quality of writing for teens. He wrote a book that was an adaptation of one of his plays (he does not plan to publish it though). Now he is back in New York and has one published book under his belt, The Eleventh Plague, with more to come.
Genre: Science Fiction, Apocalyptic Fiction
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas: Ask teens what they would do if the world were nothing like it is now from the aftermath of war and sickness. How would they survive on their own if they were a survivor?
Reading Level/Interest Age: 12+
Challenge Issues: N/A
Why included? A great book for the fan of apocalyptic literature.
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