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Dread Nation

Dread Nation

Young AdultAlternate History
Pages
222
Published
2018
Language
English

Synopsis

A Black girl trained to fight the undead at a combat school for Negro girls uncovers a conspiracy in Justina Ireland's acclaimed YA alternate history, where the Civil War never really ended because the dead rose from the battlefield at Gettysburg.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

DarkTenseGrittyAdventurousThought-Provoking
Coming of AgeSurvivalFound FamilyRivals

Genres

Young Adult Alternate History Zombie Historical Fiction Horror

About the author

J
Justina Ireland

Justina Ireland is the author of Dread Nation (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins), a New York Times bestseller as well as the sequel Deathless Divide. Her earlier works include the fantasy young adult novels Vengeance Bound and Promise of Shadows (both Simon and Schuster). Justina also writes for the Star Wars franchise, including the books Lando’s Luck, Spark of the Resistance, and the upcoming A Test of Courage, part of the High Republic publishing initiative. She is the former co-editor in c...

Characters

Jane McKeeneProtagonist

A sharp-tongued, combat-trained girl finishing her education at Miss Preston's School of Combat for Negro Girls in Baltimore.

Elias SnyderAntagonist

The violent, racist sheriff who enforces Survivalist rule over the town of Summerland.

Katherine DevereauxSupporting

Jane's prim, high-achieving classmate and early rival at combat school who becomes her closest ally.

Jackson KeatsSupporting

A charming, morally ambiguous former beau of Jane's from Baltimore who resurfaces searching for his missing sister.

Gideon CarrSupporting

An Egalitarian scientist in the frontier town of Summerland who becomes an unlikely friend to Jane.

All characters in Dread Nation

Frequently asked questions

  • Is there a sequel to Dread Nation?

    Yes. Dread Nation is the first book in Justina Ireland's two-book series; the story concludes in Deathless Divide (2020).

  • Is Dread Nation based on real history?

    It's alternate history: the Battle of Gettysburg and the Reconstruction-era setting are real, but Ireland imagines that the Civil War dead began rising as "shamblers," reshaping American history from that point on. The frontier town of Nicodemus, Kansas that appears in the book was a real settlement founded by Black homesteaders.

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