Have you ever wondered what will happen at the end of the world? Will influenza overtake the world or will the world become a cloud of dust 
floating in the universe? The book The Eleventh Plague shows the future through the eyes of Stephen Quinn, a fifteen-year-old boy. Will he survive or perish like the many more before him?
In the near future influenza overtakes the world, killing many. One boy who survived is Steven Quinn. Stephen is struggling for his life with his grandfather and father. Suddenly, Stephen’s grandpa is overtaken by the disease and dies. Stephen tries to get over the grief of his grandpa’s death, but he finds himself somewhat happy he does not have to undergo his grandpa’s beatings anymore. After they bury the body of Stephen’s grandpa, Stephen and his dad discover an old bomber plane. They start searching through the plane when two slavers and two slaves also find the plane. Stephen and his father hide and wait until the slavers fall asleep so they can leave. On their way out they try to free the slaves but the slavers awake. The slavers chase them away. During the chase, Stephen’s father is critically injured, falling into a coma and turning both their worlds upside down. The next morning people from a small community, called Settler’s Landing, who have survived the influenza, find Stephen and offer to bring him back to Settler’s Landing with them. Once at Settler’s Landing Stephen can live a normal life while his dad can get medical treatment. Stephen even meets a girl named Jenny. One day, Jenny and Stephen set a prank that goes horribly wrong. It starts a war that will change Settler’s Landing, and their lives forever! Will Stephen’s father awake from the coma, or will he perish? Will Stephen and Jenny survive without his father’s help? What will happen to Settler’s Landing?
Max says… I like when Stephen and his father were burying their grandfather, they left his golden World War II ring on his finger. I liked it because they gave his grandfather dignity by keeping the ring on his finger. Another thing that I like is when Stephen stole the medicine from the Green’s so they could take the medicine and trade it for supplies if his father woke up. Finally one more like I had was when they finished the battle they didn’t just sit down and wait to die from the winter they actually started to rebuild the town.
Zach says… I like the action of the story when Stephen and his father find the old plane and get chased out by the Slavers. I also like how Marcus was nice enough to take Stephen into his house and acted like a second father to Stephen after his real father fell into a coma. I disliked how Stephen and Jenny pulled the prank on the Henry family because their lives went downhill from there because the Henry family stated a war between the two civilizations.
Dan says… I liked how action-packed the war was between the Slavers and Settler’s Landing because I didn’t know if Stephen and Jenny would live. I also liked how the story shows what the near future may hold. Some people think the world will end within the next year and this book gives a glimpse of what may happen. Finally, the suspense of whether or not Stephen’s father would live or perish really added a lot to the story.
Overall, we enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys action packed, suspenseful books!
Be sure to look out for Jeff Hirsch’s new book, Magisterium, due out in October!
Max B., Dan B., and Zach – EMS Bloggers
Entries (RSS)
I just really liked how you didn’t include what the prank was and now I feel like reading it just to find that out. Good job!