SOLVED. YA Post-Apocalyptic story of teens escaping a city that has been nuked. Read in early 1980s. [s]

[Brooke]

Read this in junior high, early 1980s. I remember one line, from the main character witnessing a huge explosion and saying that it was a "mushroom cloud, but it was so close it didn't look like a mushroom". I believe the main character traveled with a sister as they tried to escape and survive the aftermath of a nuclear strike in the US. The cover might have had brown or tan colors on it, and it was a short title, something punchy. Not a thick book, maybe 150-200 pages.

[bookel]

Search quote google books.


Warday by Strieber.

Warday and the journey onward
Authors:Whitley Strieber, James W. Kunetka
Print Book, English, 1984
Publisher: Coronet, London, 1984
Originally published: London : Hodder and Stoughton, 1984

Seems like adult fiction though?

[Rainbowheart]

Warday came up for me on a search too.

"There was an impression of a mushroom cloud, but I knew that was what it was, a mushroom cloud seen so close that it didn’t look like a mushroom."

[Brooke]

That's it! Thank you! I was mixing up two different books, both with similar subject matter: Warday by Whitley Strieber, which is definitely adult fare, and After the Bomb by Gloria Miklowitz, which was in fact a Scholastic book for young adults. Both released at nearly the same time, and apparently I read both at nearly the same time. Thank you so much for clearing up my confusion on these books!

[Kris]

Glad you found your books, Brooke.

After the Bomb by Gloria D. Miklowitz

[bookel]

That's great. Also, After the Bomb has a sequel, After the Bomb: Week One. Both are on openlibrary.org.