The Eleventh Plague
Written by Jeff Hirsch
Scholastic Canada $19.99
Recommended for ages 12 and up.

In this post-apocalyptic story, we find Stephen Quinn salvaging his way through life twenty years after The Collapse.  The Collapse was a brutal war between America and China that left two-thirds of the population dead from a strange outbreak of influenza.  Stephen’s mother was one of the casualties of the outbreak.  So along with his father and stern grandfather, fifteen-year-old Stephen combs the countryside looking for remains of life, which he then trades for necessities.
Stephen’s grandfather soon passes on and he is then left with only his father.  A stroke of luck finds Stephen face–to-face with a group of people from Settler’s Landing, a little slice of the country that appears immune to the plague that has ravaged the rest of civilization.  Unfortunately at this time, his father has fallen into a coma however Violet, a trained doctor welcomes Stephen and his father into their home and promises to look after them to the best of her ability.
Life in Settler’s Landing seems so normal that Stephen is hesitant to become too comfortable. Who can enjoy a game of baseball when the rest of the world is crumbling around them?  Why would you waste your day at school learning to read when you will never have to use the skill?
Stephen quickly discovers who’s who in this small town.  Will Henry is  a pretentious know-it-all.  Jenny is mischievous. Jackson is rock-solid and means well.  Much to his surprise, Stephen and Jenny become unlikely friends.  In fact, a senseless prank against the Henry family changes everything about Settler’s Landing in the blink of an eye.  Can they survive what they have created?  Or will the town succumb to the insanity?