Plague Land

Gr 9 Up—A high-impact horrific thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seat and begging for the next installment. Leon and his sister Grace have recently moved to London, England, and Leon is finding it hard to fit in when rumors of a mysterious virus begin to trickle into the news. Within a week, the virus has arrived in London; witnessing people melting into liquid right before their eyes, Leon and his family go out on the run for survival. Within a month, the virus has wiped away almost every living creature on Earth. When Leon and Grace are taken in by a close-knit group of survivors, they start to wonder if surviving the virus was the easiest part of this nightmare. This fast-paced thriller is extremely intense and full of surprises, providing the YA horror genre with a wonderful postapocalyptic addition. Smaller chapters from all over the world showing the devastation of the virus creates a horrifying picture of mass destruction and a layered look at the plot. Adding to the multidimensional view of the story are small vignettes where the virus itself narrates and describes how it is evolving and replicating. Gratuitous graphic descriptions of death, including one where a young girl is burned alive, a murder/suicide scene, and an attempted rape make this a read for mature teens.