The Eleventh Plague (YA)

The Eleventh Plague. Jeff Hirsch. 2011. Scholastic. 304 pages.

I was sitting at the edge of the clearing, trying not to stare at the body on the ground in front of me. 

In The Eleventh Plague, Stephen Quinn, our narrator, has to learn to trust himself--and others. Quinn's life has never been easy. He has a few happy memories of his mother, but, for the most part he's been a salvager traveling the country with his father and grandfather. His grandfather's strength and stubbornness may have kept him alive, but, it kept him from having his own voice and opinion. He never had to make a decision on his own until his grandfather's death and his father's accident. Just a day or so after they bury his grandfather, his father has an accident which leaves him in a coma. Quinn and his father are discovered by a few people from Settler's Landing. He takes a chance and goes with them, hoping that their doctor may know what to do to help his father. But he doesn't trust them exactly, and they don't trust him perfectly either. At least some in the community don't trust him. In the days ahead, Stephen Quinn experiences life as he never has before. He's never had a home before, never had the security and certainty of staying in one place. And he's certainly never been around kids his own age, never attended school, never played baseball, etc. There are so many things about this community that impress him. But the girl who intrigues him most is the one who may just lead him to make a horrible decision...

The Eleventh Plague is an interesting novel. It was a quick and often compelling read. I struggled to keep up with all the new people he was meeting. There were times I felt out of my element, which helped me to connect with the narrator.  I liked this one.

Read The Eleventh Plague

• If you like dystopias OR post-apocalyptic fiction
• If you like coming of age stories
• If you like survival/adventure stories 

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews