The Eleventh Plague

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

Stephen, his father and his grandfather are salvagers living post collapse after nukes were dropped on North America from China that contained P-11 a souped up version of the flu which had zombie-like symptoms. Stephen's granfather had lots of rules for survival but a couple of the most important were don't stray off of the planned path and don't talk to strangers. After Stephen's grandfather passes his father deviates from the rules made by Stephen's grandfather and strays from the path and risks everything for a group of strangers for "slavers".

Stephen is a scavenger. All that Stephen knows is the life of a salvage and the things that his father and grandfather had taught him about surviving. Stephen's life is drastically changed when he makes the decision to help two strangers which in the end leaves his dad injured. At this point Stephen is left to make his own choices. Stephen decides to go to a settlers landing. Here the people try to rebuild what was North America pre-collapse. Baseball and barbecues. In this settlers landing Stephen falls in love with Jenny, Jenny is beautiful but is a town outcast. As him and Jenny's relationship becomes deeper and deeper. Stephen comes into violent issues with the settler leaders who are willing to rebuild the world they knew pre-collapse no matter the cost.

This book was okay. On a scale 1-5 I give this a 3. The only reason i give this book a 3 is because after Stephen begins to find himself the book gets a little boring. Even though every so often something will happen. So I wouldn't recommend this book to a person that loves action all the way through, but if you like a nice storyline I recommend this book to you.

Book Review by Allen H.

The Eleventh Plague

The Eleventh Plague is a book that takes place after the collapse of the world and society, as we know it, ends. The world ends after a sort of biological World War.

This book is about a boy named Stephen and his father roaming around the country looking for material to trade. When Stephens grandfather dies Him and his father are no longer in the harsh iron fist rule of their grandfather. When Stephens’s dad gets injured and put into a coma. Stephen struggles to stay alive on his own while taking care of his father. When Stephen finds people they take him and his father to their little settlement. There Stephen is reluctant to socialize with the natives of the settlement. He meets a girl named Jenny who is a rebel and does not want anything to stay peaceful or quite. Him and jenny start to become friends, but jenny gets Stephen into a lot of trouble. He gets off the hook but he is on the last strike until he gets kicked out of the settlement. Him and Jenny play a prank and endanger their lives along with the rest of the settlement.

The Eleventh Plague is a great suspense story. It has a little bit of everything in it including drama, action, and a little bit of mystery. I though that this book was quite good and the author always kept me hanging at the end of each chapter. I would suggest this book to anybody that is looking for a good suspenseful read.

Book Review by Austin A.

The Eleventh Plague

The book The Eleventh Plague, by Jeff Hirsch, is easy to get a grip on. Ideas are developed quickly so that you get hooked.

           

This book is about a 13 year-old kid named Stephen who lives in a post-apocalyptic world. He must fight for survival after the Red Army (China’s army) brought a new souped up strain of the flu to the United States. Stephen is struggling to move on from his grandfather’s death and his dad falling into a coma. He is trying to fit into a new community with people that don’t really like him that much. He finally makes friends with one of the kids there, but when they pull a prank, they cause war to erupt between their camp and a military base nearby.

           

This story is told in first person present (the narrator is Stephen). This well layered story is gripping with many of today’s conflicts, for example gang violence, war, and teen social issues. This book is relevant to kids nowadays because they will be able to relate to Stephen’s experience with loneliness, isolation, frustration and social pressure.

           

What I do not really like in particular about the story is that it leaves a few things underdeveloped. For example, some of the people in the villages, the military base members, and his grandfather were only touched upon and not fully described. But I enjoyed this book because it was easy to understand and it had a good and thought-provoking ending. This book describes a thrilling and uneasy experience of a post-war world, and I would recommend this book to others who are interested in reading the post-apocalyptic genre. 

Book Review by John P.