I’ve found myself drawn to post-apocalyptic worlds in movies, books, and songs for as long as I can remember. I love the high stakes, found families, and glimmers of hope even in a ravaged world, as well as the questions these stories ask: “How would I survive?” “What would I preserve from my old life, and what would I discard?” “What’s really important?” Whether the end comes from climate change, viruses, zombies, or aliens, I’ll never tire of reading new ones. Male writers dominate the genre, but there are also many female and non-binary authors exploring post-apocalyptic worlds. I hope this list gives you a jumping-off point for further explorations!
I wrote...
We Survivors: A Story from After the End
By
L.J. Thomas
What is my book about?
After disease and nuclear warfare decimate the world population, 17-year-old Nadia is sure she’s the last person left on Earth. She buries her before-the-end memories and focuses on survival. Then one night, she hears a voice on her radio and everything changes. Nadia finds comfort in her newfound companions, but they also discover an unsettling thread tying them together: their shared birthdays. As they begin to unravel the mysteries surrounding their survival, they soon realize it was no accident, and that they could be in far more danger than they ever imagined…
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The Books I Picked & Why
The Big Empty
By
J.B. Stephens
Why this book?
This was my first foray into post-apocalyptic fiction as a preteen, and one of the first books I remember being unable to put down! In this first book of a series, seven teenagers enter “the Big Empty”, or what was once the central region of the United States. I love the different personalities of each POV character and the struggle each endures to find safety and a sense of normalcy after a virus devastates their world. The mysteries surrounding the Strain 7 virus, the Novo Mundum community, and the dangers of the Big Empty are sure to keep you turning pages!
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The Sound of Stars
By
Alechia Dow
Why this book?
This is my favorite post-apocalyptic book of the alien invasion variety. Our main characters are Ellie, a teenager running an illegal library of books and music in what was once New York City, and MoRr1s, a not-so-emotionless alien drawn to human art—and Ellie. You’ll fall in love with them both as they cross the post-alien-invasion United States on a mission to save what’s left of the world.
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The Hunger Games
By
Suzanne Collins
Why this book?
No list of my favorite post-apocalyptic books would be complete without The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I remember first devouring this book in a single day and have returned to it many times over the years. I love the survival skills, dystopian society, high stakes, and difficult choices. If you haven’t yet joined Katniss on her journey to save her sister and survive the twisted life-or-death games, there’s no time like the present!
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Severance
By
Ling Ma
Why this book?
As a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre, I’ve read a great many zombie novels over the years, but I can safely say that none stood out to me the way Severance by Ling Ma did. As Shen Fever overruns the world, turning people into zombies stuck in repetitive tasks from their human lives, Candace Chen reluctantly leaves her office job to search for safety among a group of survivors. Most zombie books ask what one would do when faced with zombies. Written in a literary style and exploring a range of topics including consumerism and the immigrant experience, this book will have you asking the equally chilling questions: “What would I do if I became a zombie? What mind-numbing, mundane routine would my life boil down to?”.
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The Marrow Thieves
By
Cherie Dimaline
Why this book?
In the world of The Marrow Thieves, the apocalypse is due to climate change and a sickness that robs people of the ability to dream. When it’s discovered that marrow from Indigenous people can restore dreams to the afflicted, fifteen-year-old French is forced into hiding with a group of other Indigenous Canadians, traveling ever northward as they flee the marrow thieves. I appreciated the survival skills, found family, coming-of-age story, ripples of the horrors that were residential schools, and fight to preserve Indigenous lives and culture found within these pages.
