YA Trio: Post-apocalyptic stories narrated in dialect.

I dig post-apocalyptic stories written in dialect, because language evolves. It makes sense that over a long period of time—and cataclysmic events that separate populations from each other—that language would be changed a whole lot more than by the introduction of a few new slang terms.

Anyway, what I'm saying is this: post-apocalyptic dialect, BRING IT ON.

     

After the Snow, by S. D. Crockett: Willo drops the 's's off of his verbs and has spent so much time on his own in the wilderness that he tends to look at the world in animal terms, rather than people terms... which ends up being both a strength and a weakness when he goes out looking for his missing family.

Blood Red Road, by Moira Young: Saba doesn't use quotation marks and actually sounds quite a bit like a cowboy. I love her, her voice, her world (though I wouldn't want to live in it, what with the kidnappers and cage fighting and giant worms and whatnot), and this book.

The Reapers are the Angels, by Alden Bell: No quotation marks, no apostrophes, lots of beauty-in-the-midst-of-tragedy, Temple's grasp of the English language seems like she learned it via a decades-long game of Telephone. My favorite zombie book in recent memory.

More?

Comments

[Lillian]

How I Live Now sort of falls into this category, I think, although its punctuation-lacking teenspeak isn't exactly a post-apocalyptic evolution. Or is it, since she's narrating the story afterwards?

[Leila]

Oh, yeah. She does hate the punctuation, doesn't she? It's been a while since I read it, but from what I remember, I don't think I'd call it dialect so much, or post-apocalyptic... but it should definitely go on a list of YA Books With Stylized Punctuation or something similar. And one about terrorism? (Is that what happened? Terrorists took over England? Or was it WWIII? Daisy's grasp of the situation was pretty sketchy, though. I should really, really re-read that book. It's been too long.)

[Lillian]

I read it just recently, upon your old recommendation (and now Meg Rosoff is one of my new favorites -- thank you!). The book was difficult to get into at first because of the lack of punctuation (I read a fair amount of teenspeaky YA, but I'm a big fan of punctuation), but I absolutely loved it once I got past that. Upon finishing it, I actually exclaimed to myself, "Holy sh!t. That was amazing." But then I didn't have anyone to talk to about it. :(

Terrorists take over England, and you're right, Daisy's perception of the situation is very localized, so while we understand that there is Big Stuff happening, we don't actually know for sure if it's World War III Big. By the end of the story, I did feel that it was post-apocalyptic, but in a smaller, more personal sense, and less of a global nuclear warfare kind of way.

[Leila]

That's a great distinction: I'd say that the experience very definitely was post-apocalyptic for our characters, regardless of the global situation.

[Mia]

It wasn't marketed as YA, but Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban is narrated by a teenager in post-apocalyptic England in QUITE a thick dialect, and I loved every minute of it.

[Leila]

Oh, nice one, I'll look it up! Thanks!

[Floatinglush.wordpress.com]

The Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness are most certainly post-apocalyptic and told in dialect. And you should really read them, despite the the talking animal thing. It works in the story, and isn't at all forced or fake.

[Leila]

Oh, good call on that series! My problem with talking animals isn't a voice thing, though -- it's that when Bad Things Happen to them, I tend to get very, very upset.