Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation 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.

This book was sooo much fun to read. An African American zombie hunter after the Civil War! Ha! Who would have thought? Jane, the lead character is whip-smart, funny, and a typical teenager who has the most awesome petty comebacks, which I absolutely loved. 

About the book - Sometime around the last days of the Civil War, the dead became the undead (shamblers). Now that it’s over, most of the younger females have been enlisted to go to elite schools and train to become zombie hunters and attendants to the more affluent whites. Jane is one of these females and attends Miss Preston’s School for Combat in Baltimore. 

There is nonstop action fighting zombies, and Jane, along with a couple of friends (loosely) in Red Jack (an ex-boyfriend) and Katherine (rival), also try to solve a mystery of disappearing people. Trying to solve the mystery of the disappearances (which includes the disappearance of Red Jack’s little sister) get these three in a little bit of trouble. Since this novel takes place right after the Civil War, you see that blacks still face oppression, racism and how they try to survive, dealing with these issues. A uniqueness I also found about this book is that each chapter begins with a letter written by Jane to her mother. Through these letters we learn about who Jane is and her history. 

This book is the beginning of a trilogy so don’t look for a happily ever zombie killing after at the end but only the beginning to Jane, Katherine, and Red Jacks stories. If you are a fan of the Walking Dead and/or historical fiction and you want a little diversity in your reading, this book just might appeal to you. It did to me and I’m eagerly waiting for book #2.