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Plague (Plague 99, #1)

Jean Ure

Why we're reading this: Three teenagers attempt to survive on their own when a devastating plague sweeps London.
[close] Three teenagers attempt to survive on their own when a devastating plague sweeps London.

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Feb 26, 2008 Hrimcealde rated it it was ok

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, 2008-books, post-apocalyptic-disease, ya

Jean Ure's book Plague, orginially published in England as Plague 99, had your basic end-o-the-world premise. As best I can tell, there really are only three: War, Plague, and Natural Disaster. This is, obviously, the second.

Fran, shy, timid, anti-social teenager, and her best friend Harriet ("Harry") plan to go on a month long excursion into the wilderness--a "Stone-Age" camp" cut off from all civilization--but at the last minute Harry breaks her wrist and Fran, who was depending on the gregar Jean Ure's book Plague, orginially published in England as Plague 99, had your basic end-o-the-world premise. As best I can tell, there really are only three: War, Plague, and Natural Disaster. This is, obviously, the second.

Fran, shy, timid, anti-social teenager, and her best friend Harriet ("Harry") plan to go on a month long excursion into the wilderness--a "Stone-Age" camp" cut off from all civilization--but at the last minute Harry breaks her wrist and Fran, who was depending on the gregarious Harry to make the excursion tolerable, is forced to go by herself. She enjoys herself eventually, but upon returning to her home in a suburb of London, finds that the unimaginable has happened--a plague of some sort is attacking London and her little neighborhood is behind the contamination line. So what does Fran do? You guessed it! Goes behind the line. But who could blame her? She has absolutely ZERO idea what's going on.

Later on she finds Harry and they link up with a Muslim classmate. And then they try to survive.

My main problem with the book is that it ends too abruptly. It's almost as if she ran out of ideas for what to happen next. There's next to zero resolution with most of the elements of the plot. It ends, suddenly, with that trite ending that most Post-Apocalyptic novels end with: The future looks bleak, the world as we knew it is over with and won't be coming back, but darnit! we've got each other, and therefore, we've got hope! GAG.

The characters are all fairly flat and static; even Fran, who is supposed to have become some sort of Amazon while she was in the wilderness (okay, maybe not, but at least she could have learned some more basic survival skills and some more confidence in herself), seems just a shade or two more forceful than she was before. I was expecting her to really step up and throw down (ha), but she stays meek and mild through most of the book, even to the end! And there were several currents of "Down-With-Men" and "Yay!Women" so it was surprising that the author thought that her females were positive reflections of the gender. Great, the cracked and silly female-who-can't-take-the-pressure and the blessed-are-the-meek-who-will-inherit-the-earth female who bows to the boy's infinite wisdom. And WHAT is with the Muslim stereotypes. Frankly, I was astonished that this book was written in 89. I expected it to be in the seventies or something.

I can't give it one star, because I was interested the whole time in what was happening. I can't say I didn't like it. But I also can't say that I did like it. Also? I sure am glad this is a library book, and I didn't waste my money in the purchase. ...more

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Jun 01, 2010 Kaye rated it really liked it

Shelves: read_in_2010, youngadult, apocalypse_dystopia

Fran is away on an extreme camping trip for a month, and when she comes back, she's found that the world has basically ended. London has shut down, and no one can get in or out. Television programming is intermittent, and only stocked with old movies. Radio reports are few and far between. Almost everyone she knew and loved is dead, and the sickness is far from over. The story was gripping, although a bit preachy in parts (conspiracy theories, etc.) and no answers really came out of this book. I ...more

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Mar 27, 2010 Greg marked it as to-read

Apr 09, 2010 Stephanie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, dystopian-post-apocalyptic, young-adult, read-in-2010

Jun 16, 2021 Laura rated it did not like it

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