SOLVED. Post-apocalyptic novel from my childhood bottom of the cover was a shelf with some jewellery on it, which I believe included a pearl necklace, and a rat crawling among it [s]

[Natalie]

I read a post-apocalytic book when I was in elementary school (somewhere around 1993-1995) that was kind of a strange, sparse story. Looking back, I think it was young adult, but I'm not completely sure (I just knew it was a touch too old for me at the time).

I remember very little about it other than the fact that it was a thin paperback with a muted red (terracotta) cover. The bottom of the cover was a shelf with some jewellery on it, which I believe included a pearl necklace, and a rat crawling among it. I believe the disaster in the story was nuclear in origin.

I've wondered about this book many times as an adult, and would love to know what it was! Thanks in advance.

[bookel]

No other plot details? Can't check covers right now so just a suggestion.
Children of the dust by Louise Lawrence.

[Sam~~ we cannot see the moon, and yet the waves still rise~~]

Here is the book Bkl is suggesting. Since you brought up what the cover looked like, here are a few from different editions.

[bookel]

Probably unlikely....

[Sue]

The cover doesn't match, but 'Why Weeps The Brogan' by Hugh Scott? The children are living in a museum.

[bookel]

If no one recognises the cover the other option is conduct multiple searches online, see if memory is triggered by cover, title, author, plot ...

Search results for 'kw:nuclear' > '1970..1995' > 'Book' > 'Fiction' > 'English' > 'Juvenile' - one such example of a search.

[Andria]

Maybe The Last War? I can't find a picture of the cover, but one of the Amazon reviews mentions a scene with rats, and all the reviews I can find mention that it is short and bleak.

[Natalie]

You know, I was just looking through the keywords from bkl and stopped when I reached The Last War, and found the same reviews Andria did. I think that might be it! I'm not going to remove this just yet since my memory is so spotty and there's no cover pic, but I'm feeling pretty good about it.

[Natalie]

I just realized that my university has that book, I'll check it out later and report back. The name just... sounds right to me.

[Natalie]

It was The Last War! You guys are gems! It took me about 20 minutes to read it again and now I know why it stuck with me. It's so bleak, it's like The Road for children.

[Andria]

Yay! Congrats on finding it. Would you consider scanning the cover and adding it to the GR record? Since there doesn't seem to be a picture of the cover anywhere else on the internet, it would be cool if we had one. :)

[Natalie]

Sure! I was a bit off on the cover, it was just a rat and a pearl necklace. The rat's face is covered by the library barcode, but I suppose it would be better than nothing :).