Book picks similar to
The After Days by Amy Ginsburg


scifi
underdogs
distopian
dystopic-apocalyptic

Monument 14


Emmy Laybourne - 2012
    She can see it coming down the street. You don't stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don't thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not-you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.Only, if it's the last time you'll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you'd stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.When Dean raced out the door to catch the school bus, he didn’t realize it would be the last time he’d ever see his mom. After a freak hailstorm sends the bus crashing into a superstore, Dean and a group of students of all ages are left to fend for themselves. They soon realize the hailstorm and the crash are the least of their worries. After seeing a series of environmental and chemical disasters ravage the outside world, they realize they’re trapped inside the store. Unable to communicate with the ones they love, the group attempts to cobble together a new existence. As they struggle to survive, Dean and the others must decide which risk is greater: leaving… or staying. Monument 14 is a post-apocalyptic YA novel that transcends age barriers.

Khe


Alexes Razevich - 2012
    Fleeing across the treacherous wilderness, she makes her way to the city of Chimbalay, searching for the orindles who might save her. But Chimbalay has its own dangers. The Powers are there--the secret rulers who have chosen Khe to be the mother of a monstrous new race.Neither "man in space" SciFi nor classical fantasy, Khe deftly blends elements of both while satisfying those wanting something new in a dystopian story. Perfect for readers looking for solid world-building and fresh and fully-realized characters.

Blood Passage


Malcolm Pierce - 2016
    His predicament turns desperate when he learns of his captors’ intent to eventually kill him. With no clues to the reason for his capture, Francisco has only his ingenuity to fashion an escape. But even if he can manage to break out of the brig, he faces a bigger problem: how to flee a ship in the middle of the ocean. The former soldier must summon all his resources in a desperate bid to outwit the ship’s crew as well as the band of cutthroat mercenaries responsible for his abduction. Along the way, he struggles to maintain his humanity…and discover the sinister reason for his capture.

Legacy Marines


Jonathan P. Brazee - 2016
    When they are told that their father and mother have been assassinated, they are both devastated. Cut adrift, they each decide to enlist in the Corps—but for different reasons. Esther feels it is her duty to carry on the family legacy, confident that she can excel and reach the top. Noah simply wants to earn his father’s pride, even if it is too late. As children of General Lysander, they are not “normal” recruits. Seniors and peers are well aware of their background, and the twins can’t escape the public eye. From under their father’s heavy shadow, the two have to discover his or her personal path in the Corps, even when that seems to pull them apart from each other.

Birthright


B.J. Keeton - 2013
    As a technomage of the Charonic Archive, Damien had the power to create entire universes. Then, five hundred years ago, he gave it all up. He suspended the nanites that made up his bloodstream and began to age—and eventually die—like anyone else. For centuries, Damien has lived among those who once worshipped him, his real identity fading into myth and legend. Hundreds of years later, when Ceril Bain finds Damien’s old sword buried in his grandfather's garden, he is put on the fast-track to follow in Vennar's footsteps. Over the next six years, Ceril trains as a technomage aboard the Inkwell Sigil, a ship with the ability to travel between dimensions. Just as Ceril is preparing to undergo his Rites and finish his training, the Inkwell Sigil loses power. Stranded in space with no way back home, Ceril and four of his classmates are given their final assignment: go into uncharted territory, find a way back home, and bring back the one person who can fix the ship—Damien Vennar himself.While away, Ceril and his team find themselves in a predicament when they confuse an attempt at first contact with an attack and kill two of the world’s winged inhabitants. They are shortly captured and imprisoned, and the only thing keeping them alive is their angel-like captors’ belief they may be the subjects of an ancient prophecy about a group of magic-wielding messiahs. But that’s impossible. Isn’t it?

Alien Safari (Alien Safari, #1)


Robert Appleton - 2013
    Proceed beyond this point at your own risk.When celebrated Omicron detective Ferrix Vaughn is called in to investigate a deadly breach on Hesperidia, a protected planet full of indigenous wildlife, he doesn't know what to expect. The place used to be a tourist attraction, but the safari tours were discontinued long ago due to rampant poaching. Only a handful of researchers live there now, including Jan Corbija, the young woman who reported the breach. The deeper Vaughn digs, the more the evidence seems to point to a recent raid on a biotech facility in a nearby system. Whatever was stolen from there, it's attracted the attention of major political players in a time of war across the colonies. Vaughn suspects the secret is on Hesperidia, in the hands of the two fugitives who fled the murder scene. If he wants to get to them first, he's going to need Jan's help. Her Alien Safari tour will have to reopen for this final excursion. But to survive it, they'll both need to face their demons, for a predator far deadlier than man roams the wilds of Hesperidia. And this is its killing season. This way for the ride of your life.

Earthfall


Thomas P. Hopp - 2000
    Action-packed adventure for all age groups.

Blue Collar Space


Martin L. Shoemaker - 2018
     Martin L. Shoemaker, author of “Today I Am Paul”, presents stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary work. Planning, exploring, constructing… living and growing and dying… across the Solar System. Includes these award-winning stories: Scramble (second place, Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award, 2012) Unrefined (third place, Writers of the Future, 2014) Racing to Mars (first place, Analog Analytical Laboratory award, 2016) Plus seven more stories!

We Survivors: A Story from After the End


L.J. Thomas - 2019
    She buries her before-the-end memories and focuses on survival. Then one night, she hears a voice on her radio and everything changes.Nadia finds comfort in her new-found companions, but they also discover an unsettling thread tying them together: their shared birthdays. As they begin to unravel the mysteries surrounding their survival, they soon realize it was no accident, and that they could be in far more danger than they ever imagined…Be advised, this novel contains discussions of self-harm and suicide.

The Last Orphans


N.W. Harris - 2014
    In a span of mere hours, the entire adult population is decimated, leaving their children behind to fend for themselves and deal with the horrific aftermath of the freak occurrence. As one of the newly made elders in his small town, Shane finds himself taking on the role of caretaker for a large group of juvenile survivors. One who just happens to be Kelly Douglas—an out-of-his-league classmate—who, on any other day, would have never given Shane a second glance. Together, they begin their quest to find out why all of the adults were slaughtered. What they find is even more horrifying than anything they could have expected—the annihilation of the adults was only the beginning. Shane and his friends are not the unlucky survivors left to inherit this new, messed-up planet. No, they are its next victims. There is an unknown power out there, and it won’t stop until every person in the world is dead. A spine-tingling adventure that will have you gasping for breath all the way until the last page, The Last Orphans is the first book in an all-new apocalyptic series.

Crazy for You


Jane Fenton - 2019
    Kate Barnes decides she’s still going on their romantic Bahamas getaway—alone. Her vacation takes a turn for the weird when an eccentric bookstore owner insists Kate purchase Pirate’s Treasure, claiming it’s the perfect book for her. The more she reads, the harder it is to separate fiction from reality, especially when the devastatingly handsome Captain Blackjack swoops into her life to save her from ruffians at a bar.As they grow closer, the similarities between the book and Kate’s real life become more pronounced. When the arrival of a puzzle-box from one of Kate’s patients launches her into a mystery that seems like it was pulled straight from the pages of Pirate’s Treasure, Kate starts to wonder if her sanity is leaving her, too.But when bullets start flying, the book may be Kate’s only clue to solving the puzzle box—and saving her life.

Arkship Obsidian


Niel Bushnell - 2017
    Now, almost two hundred years after the Fracture, all that remains of the sun is the enigmatic Infinite - a string of stellar material that shines at the heart of the Cluster. The last survivors of humanity live on vast arkships doing what they can to survive in this hostile ever-changing environment. When the arkship Obsidian is attacked, Wynn awakes in a lifeboat in the middle of a huge space battle, unable to remember who he is. Hunted by a killer robot, the forces of a rival arkship and the Church of the Infinite, Wynn must find new allies if he is to survive long enough to discover who is behind the attack and take his revenge.

Artificial Evil


Colin F. Barnes - 2012
    Gerry Cardle reluctantly runs the Death Lottery. It's a job he despises, yet one which keeps his name off the list. Until one day, despite his agreement with The Family, his name is inexplicably drawn next.With his world crashing down around him and with just seven days left to live, Gerry realises that the system has been breached by a malicious artificial intelligence. In order to save his life and preserve the safety of those within the city, he must do the unthinkable: flee to the abandoned wastelands outside the dome. Bitter, resolute, and with nothing left to lose, Gerry will have to do whatever it takes to survive--even if it means sacrificing his freedom, and possibly worse--his life.

The Dead Don't Talk


Lawrence J. Epstein - 2018
    He is asked by a dying man to investigate an unsolved murder. Seeking help, Danny turns to a retired killer--his father. Set on Long Island in 1982, this book follow's Danny's adventures as he tries to escape those trying to kill him and find the truth.

Dragon Academy


Devonnie Asher - 2020
    At the Academy nobody asks questions, especially of the deranged Headmaster—and Kaos somehow finds herself in his crosshairs.The only people keeping her sane? A swoon-worthy lieutenant, her mismatched duo of friends, an alchemist who takes a shining to her, and her mysterious dragon partner, Ignimitra.But as Kaos soon discovers, her dreadful past is woven into the dark tapestry of the Dragon Academy. What she finds will shatter her future. Can she survive long enough to unravel the secrets lurking in the shadows?Dragon Academy, the first of the Dragon Tamers of Pyralis series, is perfect for you if you like insistent heroines who save themselves, powerful majestic dragons, and edge-of-your-seat fantasy adventures!