REVIEWS+

A Plague Year

by Edward BLOOR
978-0-37585-681-5.
COPY ISBN
Gr 8 Up-Set between September 2001, when Flight 93 crashed outside Somerset, PA, and July 2002, when the Quecreek Mine disaster and rescue took place, this novel follows Tom Coleman, a high school freshman who is watching his impoverished town of Blackwater and its residents fall apart. It has become home to methamphetamine addicts, crime at the supermarket where he works is rising, and the people around him are getting arrested or dying. Realizing that the only folks who will help their community are the members themselves, Tom and other students in the school's drug counseling group decide to take action. Bloor draws comparisons to the movie Night of the Living Dead and Daniel Defoe's A Journal of a Plague Year to show how crystal meth and the cycle of poverty, alcohol, and drug abuse can decimate an area just like zombies or a plague. He does an excellent job of creating this downtrodden locale and the people who live there. While the disastrous effect of drugs is the main plot, Tom's growth from a coward to someone who sticks up for himself and his town is equally compelling.—Erik Carlson, White Plains Public Library, NY
It's 2001, and ninth grader Tom Coleman is a good kid. He works at the local grocery store, studies for the PSAT, and dreams of fleeing his small Pennsylvania coal town for a college in sunny Florida. Blackwater is not bad, just dull—at least until the town starts changing. The first harbinger of darkness is the attempted robbery of an ATM at the Food Giant, a crime that Tom helps foil. But thefts, especially of cleaning products and cold medicine, are escalating, and it gradually becomes clear that a methamphetamine epidemic has taken hold. By the end of the year, which is set against the backdrop of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Blackwater will be overrun with meth zombies. Bloor puts his background as an English teacher to good use as he draws parallels between Daniel Defoe's and the Blackwater drug epidemic. At times the story verges on didactic, but teens will relate to Tom, and there are enough parallels between meth addicts and the living dead to attract fans of the current zombie craze.—Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY
It's 2001, and ninth grader Tom Coleman is a good kid. He works at the local grocery store, studies for the PSAT, and dreams of fleeing his small Pennsylvania coal town for a college in sunny Florida. Blackwater is not bad, just dull—at least until the town starts changing. The first harbinger of darkness is the attempted robbery of an ATM at the Food Giant, a crime that Tom helps foil. But thefts, especially of cleaning products and cold medicine, are escalating, and it gradually becomes clear that a methamphetamine epidemic has taken hold. By the end of the year, which is set against the backdrop of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Blackwater will be overrun with meth zombies. Verdict Bloor puts his background as an English teacher to good use as he draws parallels between Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year and the Blackwater drug epidemic. At times the story verges on didactic, but teens will relate to Tom, and there are enough parallels between meth addicts and the living dead to attract fans of the current zombie craze.—Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY
Tom recounts the events in a year during which methamphetamine addiction ravishes his small Pennsylvania town, located near the site of the 9/11 crash and a coal mining disaster. Tom and his friends struggle with trying to figure out how to help those around them deal with addiction and loss. Layered main characters make for an engaging story.
Reviewed by Jeanne Bogino , Dec 01, 2011

Be the first reader to comment.

Comment Policy:
  • Be respectful, and do not attack the author, people mentioned in the article, or other commenters. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
  • Don't use obscene, profane, or vulgar language.
  • Stay on point. Comments that stray from the topic at hand may be deleted.
  • Comments may be republished in print, online, or other forms of media.
  • If you see something objectionable, please let us know. Once a comment has been flagged, a staff member will investigate.

RELATED 

More
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?