A critical review and analysis of "Plague '99" by Jean Ure.

Essay by MagogHigh School, 12th gradeA, March 2003

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"Plague 99" by Jean Ure

Critical Response

I've just finished reading a book by Jean Ure called "Plague 99". It takes place in London 1999, and is the story of three school children called Fran, Shahid and Harriet as London is terrorized by a terrible and deadly plague for which there is no cure.

It all starts with Fran coming home from a camp, which is designed to test people's ability to survive with absolutely no contact with the outside world. When she comes home she finds that the streets are almost totally empty in London and that there are barricades on the roads to the part of London that she lives in. This is her first problem: getting home through the barricades. She manages to get through them by crawling through the basement window of an abandoned house. When she gets home she finds both her parent's dead, and a note left for her by her mum.

The note explains that at the time of writing she was already dying from the disease and that Fran's father was already dead. After reading this she is (understandably) overcome with grief and breaks down. When she recovers she realises she needs to find whoever is still alive that she used to know and escape London with them. She phones everyone in her mum's phone book and can't find anyone. Finally she tries the phone number of her best friend Harriet (nick-named Harry), and finally gets an answer. She arranges to go over to Harry's and meet up with her. However the streets aren't safe for a person on their own anymore. Besides the Plague there are gangs of starving people prowling the streets looking to steal food at any cost. This is her second problem: getting to...