To survive, Stephen and his father work as salvagers, combing through wrecked cities in search of anything they can trade for food, clothing and other supplies. As long as they dodge all the bandits and slavers on the loose, it's a successful enough enterprise. But when a run-in with the wrong sort leaves Stephen's father near death, Stephen knows he can't proceed alone. He has to find help. Even if it means doing the one thing he vowed never to do - trust a stranger.

When he's brought to the small village of Settler's Landing, Stephen's amazed by the tidy, civilized society. Isolated and safe, it's like a tiny oasis in the middle of the wide, treacherous Sahara. Stephen can hardly believe the place is real. The longer he stays there, though, the more he realizes that Settler's Landing isn't exactly what it appears to be. When he and his new friend, the mischevious Jenny , play a prank that goes horribly awry, Stephen remembers just how dangerous this changed new world really is.

The Eleventh Plague, a debut novel by Jeff Hirsch, offers a bleak, but relatively tame, look at the end of the world. The book's got enough grit to be suspenseful, while remaining clean enough for a young young adult audience (I debated whether to rate it PG or PG-13, finally settling on the latter just to be on the safe side). While there's not a lot of originality to the book, it kept my attention with lots of action, something that will also appeal to teen boys, I'm sure. Still, I longed for better character development, stronger imagery and more dynamic dialogue. Without all that, The Eleventh Plague remains just okay for me. That book cover, though? Perfection.

(Readalikes: Reminded me of The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien)

Grade: C

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for mild language, violence, and intense situations

To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of The Eleventh Plague from the generous folks at Scholastic. Thank you!

The minute Leena Thomas spies Frost House crouching at the edge of Barcroft Academy's campus, she knows she has to live there. Nestled in a grove of trees, the cozy old Victorian - so much more inviting than the rest of the boarding school's dormitories - just feels like the perfect place for Leena and her friends to spend their senior year. It's a boy's dorm, but Leena's pretty sure she can use her connections to get that changed. Her plan comes together so perfectly, it's like the whole thing was meant to be.

Except for Celeste Lazar. She was never part of Leena's plan. And yet, the freaky, art-obsessed senior is now rooming with Leena thanks to the bulky cast on Celeste's broken leg and Frost House's easier access to campus. Leena's friends can't stop complaining about an outsider intruding on their perfect senior year. She's not thrilled about it either, but Leena's willing to put forth an effort. It's only for a semester. She can handle anything for a semester.

Or so she thinks until things in their shared bedroom start to get ... strange. Celeste's artwork seems to jump off the wall despite being securely fastened, Celeste's senior project gets ruined in some mysterious way, and Celeste keeps waking up with bruises all over her body. She blames the other girls, even a malevolent "presence" she insists lurks in the house. Leena's reluctant to believe her frantic new roomie, especially considering mental illness runs in Celeste's family. Besides, Leena feels completely welcome in the house and in their room. In fact, she feels more than welcome, she feels connected, almost needed by the place. But as Leena grows closer to Celeste's gorgeous older brother David, she's drawn deeper into Celeste's problems and further away from the other girls in Frost House. As Leena fights to keep her friends, help Celeste, and hold onto David, she feels her world come crashing down. Frost House becomes her sanctuary - a sanctuary that wants to keep her safe. Forever.

Frost, a debut novel by Marianna Baer, looks like a creepy little ghost tale (I mean, just look at that cover!). And it is. Kinda. Although, really, it's more psychological thriller than horror story. The former, though, never really got intense enough for me and the latter seemed too cliche. That, along with flat characters and Baer's tendency toward wordiness irritated me - not enough to keep me from finishomg the book, but enough that I'm not gushing over Frost. For a first novel, it's not bad, it's just not as good as I hoped it would be. Too bad because that creepy-coll cover still gives me chills.

(Readalikes: Hm, I can't think of anything. Can you?)

Grade: C

If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for strong languge, mild sexual content, intense situations and depictions of underrage drinking and prescription drug abuse.

To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Frost from the generous folks at Harper Teen. Thank you!