The Eleventh Plague

The Eleventh Plague has basically wiped out the earth's nations. The people who are left fight for survival in a barren wilderness - no electricity, no cars, no Wal-Mart. Things suck. For Stephan, his life is extra hard. His Grandfather and Mother are dead, and he's left with his dad. Until his dad slips into a coma and suddenly he is all alone. Luckily for him, he falls into the company of some friendly people who have created their own gated society called 'Settler's Landing.' Everything is going great...but can Stephan really fit into the so-called 'society?' Is there a greater danger lurking in the abandoned frontiers of North America?
I really liked this book. It took me a couple of hours to read - it's short and to the point, which is exactly what I love - and it details the post-apocolyptic settings in Stephan's world as realistically as if you were reading about shopping at a grocery store. Stephan is a pretty basic protagonist - but it's a pretty basic survive-or-die story. My favorite character was Jenny, the spunky, witty Chinese girl Stephan falls for. I've read a lot of post-apocolyptic novels in the YA genre, and this one has the same foundational storyline as all of them, but with a great narration. Jeff Hirsch is really an awesome writer