Dearly, Departed

Centuries after a series of catastrophes destroys much of the planet, two human civilizations based on two loose 21st-century interpretations of Victorian England thrive in South America. When 16-year-old New Victorian Nora Dearly is kidnapped by zombies, she is rescued by a company of the undead, led by Bram Griswold, a Punk soldier suffering from a disease called the Lazarus syndrome that reanimated him after his death and will soon kill him for good. First-time author Habel shifts smoothly among the first-person perspectives of several characters, and as the attraction between Nora and Bram grows, they battle an outbreak of the virus and contend with a conspiracy that involves Nora’s late father, who had devastating secrets of his own. Though weighed down in places by cluttered exposition and a meandering plot, Habel’s debut is a heart-pounding and nontraditional take on the steampunk and zombie apocalypse genres. Nora and her friend Pamela are strong, capable heroines, and Nora and Bram’s touching and tender relationship, with its emphasis on equality and living in the moment, feels particularly special. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)