Dread Nation by Justina Ireland - HIGH

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, 480 pages. Balzer + Bray (Harper), 480 pages. $10 (paperback)

Language: R (71 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: R (many descriptive deaths)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Jane, 17yo, is close to graduating from Miss Preston’s School of Combat.  As a negro in Post Civil War America, this is one of the few options available for black girls. Her combat training will give her a chance for a job as an Attendent – her job protecting a white girl from the zombies that have overrun their world. But Jane has a lot of suspicions about the leaders of her town, about the origin of the zombies and when she sneaks around to find answers, she is captured, handcuffed and sent off to Summerland – a white enclave meant to be a haven, guarded by more and more black lives.

Who would have thought that a historically set zombie book would be such a treat! You will have to handsell this or place it prominently in a zombie display, because the cover gives only the smallest hint at it’s zombie deliciousness. 

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS