YA Read For Those Who Like Horror
Glory, Texas sits in the middle of the West Texas plains. Full of dust and hard-living, Glory isn't a town for the weak of heart or spirit. In fact, no place is, not after the slow plague ten years ago that turned those infected into Shakes, not quite human creatures who are always looking for their next victim. Glory and other town are able to keep the Shakes at bay with fencing and shake-hunters, rough men who go outside the safe boundaries to hunt them down.
Willie, aka Daisy Wilcox, is trying her hardest to make ends meet for her and her family. Willie's mother succumbed to the infection and she isn't sure if Mother is dead or alive. Her father, the local drunk, is never home except to steal the hard earned money she ekes out. But then he goes one step further.
One day, Willie's home is approached by some very rough shake hunters who are looking for Willie's father and the money he stole from them. Now, it's up to her to find her father and return the money or lives will be at stake. With the help of two young shake-hunters, Willie must travel to the next town over...across the plain riddled with Shakes...
Once forced out, she sees the reality and horror of life outside Glory. With only two inexperienced shake hunters and unexpected visitors, Willie isn't sure she'll make it to the next town. And then....
Berquist takes the setting of the Texas plains and weaves a dystopic tale where not quite zombie-like creatures can be more terrifying than the natural predators of the plains. This will capture the attention of those wanting more horror dystopia set within a future Western. What makes this book even more unique is the Western aspect of the novel itself, which is hard to find in current YA fiction collections.
496 pages 978-0062642783 Recommended 8th-12th grades.
Recommended by: Naomi Bates, Library Specialist; Texas USA
See more of her recommendations: https://naomibates.blogspot.com/
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Keep together. Keep your eyes open. Keep your wits about you.
The desert is unkind in the best of times. And the decade since the Civil War has been anything but the best of times for Daisy Wilcox—call her Willie—and her family. This tense, heart-pounding alternate history about a young woman fighting to survive the unthinkable will keep fans of Westworld and The Walking Dead reading late into the night.
A horrifying sickness has spread across the West Texas desert. Infected people—shakes—attack the living, and the surviving towns are only as safe as their perimeter walls are strong. The state is all but quarantined from the rest of the country. Glory, Texas, is a near ghost town. Still, seventeen-year-old Willie has managed to keep her siblings safe, even after the sickness took their mother. But then her good-for-nothing father steals a fortune from one of the most merciless shake hunters in town, and Willie is left on the hook for his debt. With two young hunters as guides, Willie sets out across the desert to find her father. And the desert holds more dangers than just shakes.
This riveting debut novel blends True Grit with 28 Days Later for an unforgettable journey.--from the publisher
