Guest post written by author Amanda Panitch
Amanda Panitch spent most of her childhood telling stories to her four younger siblings, trying both to make them laugh and scare them too much to sleep. Now she lives in New York City, where she writes dark, funny stories for teens, kids, and the pigeons that nest on her apartment balcony.
This may sound weird, but reading post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction makes me feel better about the world. Sure, I’m watching our world crumble on the page, but I’m also watching people rise to the occasion, surviving and persisting and building a better world from the rubble. It’s reassuring to see that humanity can’t and won’t disappear no matter what terrible things happen to it. If that thought also inspires you, read on for my list of some of my favorite examples of teenage girls not just surviving, but kicking the apocalypse’s butt.
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
On a future Earth devastated by climate change and the natural disasters that come along with it, Kasey wants to use her skills at logic and science both to save humanity from itself and to find her missing sister, Celia, who she knows isn’t dead—no matter what everyone else says. Meanwhile, Cee wakes up on a faraway island, unable to remember anything except that she loves and needs to find her sister, Kay.
The world of this book hit hard and hit home with its depiction of a future wracked by climate change, which feels all too real right now. I loved both sisters and how, even though they were opposites personality-wise, they were still so devoted to each other. If you pick this one up, make sure you’ve got a few tissue boxes handy: the twists in the second half will WRECK you.
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Tierney lives in a brutally misogynistic society, where women are sent away for a year on a remote island when they turn sixteen to use up their “magic,” which supposedly makes them dangerous to the men. That year is called the grace year, and many of them don’t come back alive. But all isn’t as it seems in Tierney’s world. What’s the real purpose of the grace year? And will Tierney figure out her place in society, among her friends, and even among the inevitable revolution before she runs out of time?
This book kept me rapt as I turned the pages to see how Tierney and her story would develop. I especially loved how Tierney gradually learned the greater meaning of rebellion, how it isn’t just all big flashy gestures and sacrifices, but how it’s often the small, quiet things behind the scenes that wind up changing everything.
Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams
Can it really be a sin for otherwise devout Agnes to barter with the treacherous Outsiders for the insulin needed to save her younger brother’s life? In the eyes of the prophet who runs her beloved hometown of Red Creek, yes, it absolutely is. As Agnes starts to question his teachings, she realizes she has to get out of his cult to keep herself and her family safe. Except the world outside isn’t safe either—a horrifying illness is tearing through the population. A horrifying illness that is, somehow, connected to Agnes and her home, that perhaps only she can stop.
I love YA books about characters exploring their faith and figuring out who they are outside of what they’ve been taught their whole lives. Especially when those aspects of a character intersect with a plot that’s one of the most unique and interesting I’ve ever seen. I was riveted the whole way through and cheering for Agnes not just as she saved the world but as she figured out her place in it.
Internment by Samira Ahmed
In a terrifyingly plausible near-future America, Muslim-Americans have been relegated to internment camps similar to those Japanese-Americans were confined in during World War II. Seventeen-year-old Muslim-American Layla Amin is furious at the system, and she’s not going quietly. In fact, she’s going to lead a revolution against it from the inside.
This might be the scariest example of world-building on this list, just because the scenarios Ahmed depicted felt so immediate and real. I loved how strong of a character Layla was while also still being a typical teen.
This is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey
It’s 1998, and Jess is just your normal suburban teenager living a normal suburban life… or is she? Her life’s not feeling so normal anymore—her friends and even her dog have started behaving strangely, and she starts hearing things nobody else can hear. And then a mysterious metal device with an apple logo on it falls out of her friend’s bag. When the people around her start going missing, Jess is given no choice but to figure out what’s going on if she doesn’t want her world—and her mind—to fall apart.
I read this book in under 24 hours, if that tells you anything about how thrilling and addictive it is. It has so many smart, insightful things to say about celebrity culture and the entertainment industry. I’m counting down the days until the second book in the duology comes out in May!
Gone Dark by Amanda Panitch
I couldn’t leave my own book off a list like this! When all of America’s electrical grids go dark at once, the country quickly devolves into chaos. The only safe place Zara Ross can think of is her estranged father’s survivalist compound across the country, which she and her mom fled years ago after a traumatic event. But as she forges toward it, gathering a growing group of friends and followers as she unearths the survival skills she thought she buried long ago, dark secrets from her past begin bubbling up. Can she save others when she’s not sure if she herself is worth saving?
One of my favorite parts when it came to writing this book was that Zara wasn’t just surviving all of the physical chaos stemming from the world going dark—just as much of the story is about Zara surviving the mental and emotional chaos stemming from her past. Writing and researching this book was a thrilling process—I hope reading it is, too!
