I’d like to recommend Jenny Pox by J.L. Bryan. A few reasons why:
1. Girl who spreads plague by touch in small-town South Carolina. You had me at the premise. You had me at the location.
2. Jenny doesn’t ever get whiny even though her lot is a miserable one. In fact, she’s pretty darned active. She has hobbies, she does stuff to get what she wants, she’s not really afraid of playground tyrants.
3. As a lot of reviews I found mentioned, the world comes alive. Some people found the main antagonist Ashleigh to be too much, but I found myself loving to hate her.
Darkeva’s Dark Delights has a review that shares my thoughts on this book. So does Books are Precious Gems. That is, if the premise alone hasn’t convinced you. 
Hi Barb! I’ve had this one on my “to read” list for a while (it’s a long list so I haven’t gotten to it yet!). I agree – just the premise of the story alone makes me want to read it. I have read several books by Amanda Hocking and she’s a big JL Bryan fan. Have you read any Amanda Hocking? You might like her stuff, too.
You know, for the longest time I only thought of Hocking as a PNR “vampire” writer but I picked up a copy of Hollowland because that sounds like my kind of thing.
I’m excited for you, I hope you like Jenny Pox as much as I did. I tore through the sequel and I have the final book in the trilogy waiting for me on my e-reader.
Thanks for the comment and suggestion!