Stephen and his father are scavengers, roaming a decimated countryside. The U.S. has been depopulated due to war and a savage plague that has left millions dead. In this new postapocalyptic world, abandoned casinos, amusement parks, and strip malls slowly decay, as survivors mostly avoid one another. After a run-in with slavers, Stephen's dad is paralyzed. When a group of men offers help, the teen reluctantly finds himself in an isolated paradise of sorts: a former gated community where the inhabitants re-create pre-plague life, including holiday celebrations, school, and baseball games. If it weren't for the vague threat of another rival community, and a bullying leader, it might be ideal. Stephen is skeptical, but he finds an intriguing companion in Jenny, the adopted daughter of the community's healer. Although Hirsch does well portraying his hero, Jenny's extreme rebelliousness seems contrived and undeveloped. A shoot-em-up ending ich includes machine guns and a stampeding herd of bulls also a bit over-the-top. Still, this is a readable page-turner sure to be a hit among fans of dystopias.

Stephen and his father are wanderers in a post-apocalyptic world. After a run-in with slave traders ends in violence (and Dad in a coma), some townspeople take the two in--to mixed reception. What's more, Stephen must decide if he can be part of a community larger than his father and himself. Though some characters remain undeveloped, the narrative itself moves swiftly.

Hirsch's debut explores the creation of a new civilization out of post-apocalyptic ruin. Teenage salvager Stephen Quinn has heard stories about what America was like before collapsing due to a war with China and a virulent influenza. His paranoid grandfather keeps their family alive through harsh rules. After Stephen's grandfather dies, Stephen's father abandons their isolationism and is critically injured rescuing captives from slavers. Stephen lets go of his reluctance to trust strangers and accepts help from a scouting party. The scouts' town, Settler's Landing, attempts to recapture an idealized American past, complete with cookouts and baseball games. But Settler's Landing is no utopia, thanks to Caleb Henry, the token rich villain, and his stereotypical bully of a son, Will, who is convinced Stephen's a spy from nearby Fort Leonard. Will's usual target, wild Chinese girl Jenny, bonds with Stephen over their shared outcast status, while her adopted brother Jackson pulls him into youth sports, and teacher Mr. Tuttle encourages his intellectual growth. Stephen and Jenny inadvertently set off a chain of impulsive actions that jeopardize more than just Settler's Landing. Stephen's underlying internal conflict about the clash between social obligations and personal survival ties the first-person narration together and physically manifests in the climax. At times heavy-handed, but the author's enthusiasm shines through. (Dystopia. 12-17)

Although it relies on some increasingly common dystopian tropes, Hirsch's debut novel is an impressive story with strong characters. A generation after China released a weaponized plague on the U.S., the nation is in ruins, and 15-year-old Stephen wanders the country as a scavenger. Shortly after Stephen's grandfather dies, his father has an accident crossing a river and is incapacitated. Stephen finds himself at the small village of Settler's Landing, where a group of survivors have created an isolated haven of sorts, a far cry from the life Stephen is used to. While there, he meets Jenny, a girl of Chinese descent who is ostracized because of her race. Even as Stephen worries about his father's fate (and his own), he begins to fall for Jenny, and they are both drawn into the horrors of their world, sometimes through their own miscalculated actions. Hirsch delivers a tight, well-crafted story, and although the world-building is light on detail regarding the global cataclysm and its aftermath, most readers will be able to accept the hand-waving and enjoy the action and danger. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)

Gr 6-10 This postapocalyptic tale begins with more excitement than the rest of the book delivers. Steve, 15, was born after the Collapse, and he only knows the nomadic struggle for survival that he and his family have experienced. With his mother and grandfather dead, only he and his father remain. When an act of heroic kindness on his father's part goes horribly wrong, Steve must turn to a group of strangers for help. Much of the rest of the novel deals with his learning to trust the citizens of the small settlement, as well as his burgeoning relationship with Jenny, an angry young woman whose rage is never quite demystified. The characters and action are not as compelling as in the best teen fiction in the genre. This book will likely appeal to younger teens who want in on the postapocalyptic trend, but want to avoid graphic violence. Hayden Bass, Seattle Public Library, WA