Much has changed in America in the past two decades. After a very virulent flu has wiped out two thirds of the population, the survivors are working to establish a new lifestyle. Some have adopted a nomadic approach where they search for salvage, roaming hundreds to thousands of miles each year. Others have settled in small enclaves where they barricade themselves from marauders and neighbouring settlements.
Fifteen year old Stephen Quinn has spent his life on the road. With his grandfather recently dead and his father seriously injured, he is forced to accept the help of strangers. They blindfold him and take him to their home. When he looks at this settlement he feels he has entered a hidden paradise. A slice of pre-plague America. For the first time in his life, Stephen sleeps in a bed in a well kept traditional house in a tidy subdivision.
This was a very believable scenario. There are enough details of the plague to accept that it could have happened, but not so many that the reader will get caught in the details. It made total sense that the buildings of Settlers Landing could have survived intact, just waiting for it's next residents.
In this post-apocalyptic world, Stephen has to determine why total strangers have invited him to live among them. Are they truly kind people or do they have some hidden agenda. The residents of Settlers Landing have a similar problem, can they trust each other, and can they learn to co-operate with the neighbouring settlement for protection against a common enemy.
I found this book a very enjoyable read. The main characters came to life for me; I felt as though I would recognize them if I were to visit Settlers Landing. This would be a good selection for your teenage reader.

The Eleventh Plague
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In the aftermath of a war, America’s landscape has been ravaged and two-thirds of the population left dead from influenza. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived. But when Stephen’s grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma, Stephen finds his way to Settler’s Landing, a community that seems too good to be true. There he meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny. When they play a prank on the town bully’s family that goes horribly wrong, they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler’s Landing forever.
©2011 Jeff Hirsch (P)2011 Scholastic Audio
- Listening Length6 hours and 58 minutes
- Audible release dateSept. 1 2011
- LanguageEnglish
- ASINB071FRSSB4
- VersionUnabridged
- Program TypeAudiobook
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Product details
Listening Length | 6 hours and 58 minutes |
---|---|
Author | Jeff Hirsch |
Narrator | Dan Bittner |
Audible.ca Release Date | September 01 2011 |
Publisher | Scholastic Audio |
Program Type | Audiobook |
Version | Unabridged |
Language | English |
ASIN | B071FRSSB4 |
Best Sellers Rank | #63,435 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #110 in Coming of Age Fiction for Teens #112 in Survival Stories for Children #174 in Science Fiction for Children (Audible Books & Originals) |
Customer reviews
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4.3 out of 5
489 global ratings
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Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 29, 2012
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Helpful
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 23, 2013
My Son read this book in school and he will review this book under my account.
I think the Eleventh plague is a good book. I like to course of it and you jump right in to it.
I thing the book shows us a lesion. That war dose's not solve things it only destroys things.
I also think it must be hard to live in a place like that. You can get a plague that can kills you when you get.
I think the Eleventh plague is a good book. I like to course of it and you jump right in to it.
I thing the book shows us a lesion. That war dose's not solve things it only destroys things.
I also think it must be hard to live in a place like that. You can get a plague that can kills you when you get.
Top reviews from other countries

Kitkat1984
4.0 out of 5 stars
Keeps you wanting more
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 10, 2014Verified Purchase
An exciting book that keep's you wanting to continue reading. The story keeps you guessing to the end with plenty of twists but the characters are well fleshed out and the background researched well.

Fragglemoo
4.0 out of 5 stars
Full book wanted :-P
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 2, 2011Verified Purchase
Well the sneak peak was promising but why can't I read the rest of it on my Kindle? Or do I have to go to my local library and borrow a real book o_O
9 people found this helpful
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Ranger Book Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
High School Confidential meets the End of the World: 4 Stars for 15 yr olds; 3 or less for those older
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 22, 2017Verified Purchase
I love end of the world yarns and heard positive things about Jeff Hirsch's first novel. So despite being published by Scholastic and targeted to the 14-17 year old crowd, I decided to give it a chance... even though I am many, many moons beyond Junior Year in High School. The good thing about this book is that it has solid plotting and the writing is polished for a first novel. The opening chapters make you feel like you stepped into an alternative version of Cormac McCarthy's The Road except seen through the eyes of the boy, here an adolescent, fifteen year old Stephen Quinn, and minus the cannibals (although the 11th Plague baddies are pretty darn bad). But while the opening sequences are well done and exciting, once the action moves into the sanctuary of Settler's Landing, the novel starts to plod until it becomes nothing more than another boring high school drama with stock characters and artificial, soap-opera like tension to keep it interesting... if you are into that kind of thing. And no one over the age of 16 is. In fact, to call this a young adult novel and include 16 and 17 year olds in the targeted age range is an insult to 16 and 17 year olds who can surely handle meatier reading than this (I would have loved to share this with my sons when they were about 12. They would have liked it then). I lost interest in this book at the half-way mark. I think it would have been more interesting to follow Stephen and his father (and the most interesting character of them all, his deceased grandfather whose memory Quinn keeps evoking) on a trip across the devastated landscape of America after a biological war with China. Oh, well. Such is not the case. This is, at best, a three star novel. But since I am practically a senior citizen interloper here I will grudgingly offer up four stars to the 15 and under crowd who might actually like a high school drama set in the post-apocalypse. Enjoy, kiddos.
3 people found this helpful
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JJCEO
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good story that is well written!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 16, 2012Verified Purchase
This is a story about life in a post-apocalyptic America. Due to a misunderstanding war breaks out between China and the USA. The USA has bombed China and China has used bacteriological warfare against the USA. The Eleventh Plague kills most of the people in the USA and the survivor's civilization is thrown back about 200 to 300 years. Lawless violent roving bands seem to be common while the rest of the survivors scrape out a meager living.
Stephen Quinn is a 15 year old boy who was born after the war. He is surviving as a scavenger with his grandfather and dad by collecting miscellaneous items of small value to trade. Multiple tragedies strike and change Stephen's life drastically. He has to decide the path his life will take. Will he become a builder and a thinker, a scavenger or a destroyer? He has to decide his own path to live his life....
A very good story that is well written and could easily be made into a good movie. It is about a young boy being forced to grow up quickly in a world reborn from the remains of the old way of life. The storyline is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's book "The Road", but this story has its own merits. I have read both books and enjoyed them equally.
This book can easily be made into a sequel of the life Stephen lives and how the world redevelops. The balance of the world is yet to be explored to determine the state of civilization and mankind as a whole. It will be interesting how this new author, Jeff Hirsch, develops and releases his next book. Is it a continuation of this story or a new concept all together? Regardless of what he writes he has good potential and I hope he hits another home run!
This book is really a 4 1/2 star ranking but I am forced to choose 4 or 5 stars. I enjoyed this book and I believe you will also!
Stephen Quinn is a 15 year old boy who was born after the war. He is surviving as a scavenger with his grandfather and dad by collecting miscellaneous items of small value to trade. Multiple tragedies strike and change Stephen's life drastically. He has to decide the path his life will take. Will he become a builder and a thinker, a scavenger or a destroyer? He has to decide his own path to live his life....
A very good story that is well written and could easily be made into a good movie. It is about a young boy being forced to grow up quickly in a world reborn from the remains of the old way of life. The storyline is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's book "The Road", but this story has its own merits. I have read both books and enjoyed them equally.
This book can easily be made into a sequel of the life Stephen lives and how the world redevelops. The balance of the world is yet to be explored to determine the state of civilization and mankind as a whole. It will be interesting how this new author, Jeff Hirsch, develops and releases his next book. Is it a continuation of this story or a new concept all together? Regardless of what he writes he has good potential and I hope he hits another home run!
This book is really a 4 1/2 star ranking but I am forced to choose 4 or 5 stars. I enjoyed this book and I believe you will also!
6 people found this helpful
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