Grace at the End of the World

by Christian Trimmer

A teen girl embarks on a heart-pounding, post-apocalyptic road trip on a mission to meet her favorite pop star. Perfect for fans of The Last Bookstore on Earth . Grace has always followed the rules―especially the ninety-two she's created since the zombie apocalypse began seven months ago. But when her aunt dies and she's suddenly all alone, she decides to break Rule Number 5: Don't make rash decisions. The next morning, she leaves Texas for Malibu, California, to find her favorite pop star, Harry Park. The journey will be dangerous, and Harry might not even be alive, but as long as she follows the rest of her rules, she'll be fine ... right? Then she meets Aidan. They bond over face masks and old DVDs (Rule Number 60: Keep yourself entertained). When he asks to join her, she gladly says yes, ignoring Rule Number 2 (Avoid men) and Rule Number 16 (Avoid people generally). As the miles tick by and the rule breaking piles up, their friendship deepens. But Grace starts to realize she is running from more than just zombies―she's running from a grief she’s not ready to face. And with hundreds of miles left and the gas tank running low, she has to ask Is she chasing a foolish fantasy ... or finally learning how to live?

304 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication January 26, 2027

About the author

Christian Trimmer is a children’s book author and editor. He lives in Hillsdale, New York. If you’d like to learn more about him, his writing, and the books he edits, click on the website link above.

In February 2021, Christian started a new job at Paramount Global, where he’ll be overseeing the relaunch of MTV Books. Prior to that, he was editorial director of Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, an executive editor at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, and a senior editor at Disney Hyperion Books. He is a board member of the Hudson Literacy Fund and a member of SCBWI.

He contributed posts to the Children's Book Council Diversity Blog, one about reading to build empathy called "Read More! End LGBTQ Bullying!" and another about being biracial entitled "What Are You?

Reviews

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Definitely a young adult title, as there are multiple f-words. This felt a bit like O'Brien's Z for Zachariah to me (which I loved), although Grace does have flashbacks to before the zombie apocalypse and has to deal with things like her two dads' deaths and the death of her stepmother. I liked how prepared she was, and that she didn't make too many uninformed decisions. There did seem to be a lot of power and supplies, given that it was an apocalypse, and the zombie angle seemed a bit dated. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this and would probably buy it for a high school library. For middle school, I would prefer less salty language.

[Triciareader · Rating 4 out of 5]

At heart, this is a buddy-comedy set in post-apocalyptic Texas to California. Unlike many zombie books, there is rarely graphic violence and killing zombies is seen more as putting them out of their post-life misery than a joy. I love that it and maintained a relatively high note for the whole book, and ended on a high note, unusual in dystopian fic