Customer Reviews

Plague

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read this book a few years ago, after meeting the author Jean Ure at my school. She could possibly be one of the nicest and most interesting people I have ever met, making time for everyone and making sure we were all happy with the way she treated us.

This has to be one of the best of her books, and I feel almost like I understand just how these characters are feeling and why she put them in that position. The story is most noticeable because of the story, there is not predictable plot and you find yourself sittin gon the edge of your seat waiting for what will happen next, yet crying with upset for what is happening to the characters at the same time. Definitely worth reading, BUY IT! PS....it's late at night, I apologise to my school for making it look like I am making great grammatical errors!

Jean Ure has successfully created a sense of loneliness, morbidness and a pervasive feeling of helplessness in this novel about a girl Fran who goes off to a survival camp for a month and finds everything wracked by this plague she doesn't know much about. Her friend Harriet - went bonkers. She gets to know Shahid, who was with her throughout the most torturous days of the plague. This is a perfect book for the exploration of the innate psychology of youngsters when they are under pressure. It also gives an insight into the lives of British kids under a 'pop-diesel' culture. A book worth reading, especially when you feel that you have nothing to read. This book has the ability to give you a creepy feeling, because it is so sci-fi and is mainly a foray into a genre yet unsaturated.

I thought this book was kind of freaky. The thought of everyone
I knew dying kind of struck me I guess! And because it freaked me a
little, I didn't like reading it at night, so I could never really
sit down and get into the book. But I can say, I was into the book
enough to know these facts: *The book is very clear, and each person
and scene is drawn well in your head. *The story is very flowing, but
the pace and amount of excitement varies a lot! * This is a good book
and I highly recommend you to read it!!
-Katharine Manning, American School In Japan, 6th Grade

I tell you - British people must have a hardened view of the world. Their ideas of Young Adult books can be pretty darn creepy, as in this instance. "Plague" (also known as Plague '99 (New Windmills)) is a very well written short novel of the days following the outbreak of an unknown virulent disease in the London area. It mainly follows the stories of three teenagers and their reactions to the outbreak.

The characters are well drawn, the story well told (although I think quite graphic in spots for younger children) and has a strong female protaganist.

The story is continued in After the Plague. I have ordered that book but haven't received it yet. I will do a review on it once I read it.

Plague is a good book. That's all I'll give it. Jean Ure has put some good ideas beneath the surface, but otherwise-yuck! She needn't describe exactly what the plague does to you. Also, who exactly is Harriet? Is she this weird girl or is the catastrophe simply driving her over the edge? A bit wishy-washy, but I'd recommend it with reservations.

I think this is a great book it decribes everything so well that I feel like I am in the book.

I read this book at a very tender age and while it was depressing, it's story haunts me to this day. Jean Ure does a wonderful job creating a world in which a plague has overtaken and killed almost everything, including the media. It reminds me of that fabulous quote, "The revolution will not be televised."

In this book Ure paints a fine picture of what could happen to three very different people - the weak go mad, the strong survive. The main character is Fran, who must learn to live without her parents and struggles to hold her best friend, Harriet, together through the crisis. Along the way she meets up with a young man, Shahid, from school who she would never normally be friends with - his family is a group of working class immigrants from India while her family is a white, middle class suburban family.

Their fight to survive not only the plague but the fallout of society that comes along with this major catastrophe is frightening in its realism, as well as its sincerity. One of the most heart-wrenching moments in the book comes near the beginning, when Fran returns to her house to discover that everything is neat as a pin and dead as a tomb. A letter from her mother sits on the kitchen table, and we huddle over her words as she tells Fran about the plague, tells her that her father and she have contracted it, and begs her not to go upstairs to their bedroom, for that is where they remain. And we can only look on, like the sickening need to witness a car crash, as Fran mounts the stairs to the second floor.

Though not uplifting, the fact that Fran keeps her head and pulls together the pieces of a broken life leads readers to believe that no matter what catastrophes attack humanity, it will continue onward.

A steller novel.

I want to ask the author of this book a question,namely : "Do you think that the situation that is described in the book could become reality? And did you have this in mind when you wrote the book?

I had to read this book for a school competition. Not only was it boring and unrealistic, it also had no point. The ending was horrible-- if you could consider that an ending, and the characters were underdeveloped. There is no central idea to this book, and the ideas do not progress logically. This book reads like a diary (A few chapters actually are a diary), and there is rarely any action or meaningful events. The ending leaves the reader wanting more-- like an ending! Though I did not enjoy this book (And I don't think you would either) I gave it one star for effort. It probably was hard for Jean Ure to fill 180 pages with garbage, without passing out from the fumes of bad writing. Overall, when I finished this book, the main thought on my mind was, "Why did I finish this book?!"

You people looking for a good book? Ha not here. This book was cheesily written. A steroid induced monkey could write better Jibberish. Get real Jean!