Join us for our October book club discussion of Dread Nation. This book is more than just a zombie story set in Civil War era America — Jane McKeene, a biracial young woman, must battle not only the dead but also racism.
From the publisher:
Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever.
In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.
But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.
But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose.
But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies.
And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.
Join the GiC Book Club in person at Main Point Books in Wayne, PA! We will meet on Oct. 20 at 5 p.m. You can RSVP on Facebook at this link. Please visit or call Main Point Books to pick up or reserve your copy of Dread Nation.
Can’t make our in-person meetup? Tell us what you thought of the book in the comments below.