Armstrong, Jennifer & Butcher, Nancy. The kindling.

(Fire-us Trilogy, Book 1). HarperCollins, Eos. 284p. c2002.0-06-447273-6. $5.99. JS

To quote KLIATT's March 2002 review of the hardcover edition:

Almost five years ago, back in 2002, a terrible virus (Fire-us) swept through the population and swiftly killed almost everyone. The empty streets are now littered with abandoned cars and skeletons. In the midst of this devastation, a small band of teenagers and children have found each other and banded together in a Florida town to help each other survive. Alligators, panthers, and "horrocanes" all threaten the makeshift family, and they have just about picked the town clean. Then a stranger comes to the door: a teenager who called himself Anchorman, prone to long, wild rants that refer to the apocalypse, whom they quickly term Angerman. He intends to travel all the way to Washington, DC to find the President, and the others decide to come too. Danger lurks at every turn as they set off by bike and then by boat.

This is a riveting, powerful tale, with underpinnings of religion (the town they're in is called Lazerus). The strange near-future post-apocalypse setting is well imagined, and the atmosphere of constant menace keeps the tension level high. Once readers get into this (it takes a little while to understand what the situation is), they won't want to put it down. It ends on a cliffhanger. I can't wait for the next installment. KLIATT