Plague

Plague by Michael Grant

This is the fourth book in the Gone series (Gone, Hunger, Lies). Apparently there will be a total of 6 books. I love this series so much. It's set in Perdido Beach, CA. In the first novel, all the adults disappear at the same moment and the kids are left with the town to themselves. It's not all fun when they realize that there is a barrier surrounding their town so no one can get in or out and several of the kids develop special powers (it kind of reminded me of X-men). As time goes by, more and more odd things keep happening. By the fourth book, the kids have been through so much: first being trapped in this weird world, then starvation, food attacking them, wars, and encountering strange mutant creatures. In this book, they are faced with a shortage of water, and 2 different plagues (as if they haven't suffered enough). There's a lot of good versus evil present throughout the series. These books are full of excitement and action. They are extremely fast-paced and I cannot wait to see what happens in the future. Grant has been releasing them around the same time every year, so the fifth book should be out next April/May. This is YA dystopian at its best. The things that the characters have to suffer through, both unrealistic and realistic, is truly a nightmare. And like many of the characters in the book, you begin to wonder what they are fighting for, why they continue to fight. With no optimistic end in sight, their future is truly a mystery. These books are not for the faint of heart though. I've actually lent them to someone who returned them saying it was too difficult to read. There are so many difficult situations and tragedies in every book that they are hard to read. But the stories makes them so worth it.