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I would like to identify a young-adult SF novel I read in the early-mid 1990s. My fragmentary memories are:

  • I think the protags were children (probably two children, maybe boy and girl).
  • They were in some kind of post-apocalyptic future.
  • They were, I think, initially in a buried library or something, before they got out.
  • There was a pretty mysterious hint of some kind of "monster", not an evil bad thing, but rather a creature that was just there -- this is mainly why the memory intrigues me.
  • When they went out into the devastated real world, they found a sign that spelled ELECTRICITY but with some letters missing. There was a scene with the protags wondering "what does TRITY mean?" or some such.

First post here but I have loved sci-fi all my life. Thanks.

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    Hi, welcome to SF&F! Do you happen to recall any details of the cover? Was it paperback or hardcover? How thick was it?
    – DavidW
    Oct 27, 2021 at 13:34
  • Thanks David: but I don't remember that at all. It was recommended to me from the school library (secondary school, probably about 1993) by the English teacher. They had loads of YA SF stuff, mostly shorts collections. but this one was a full novel, I think -- probably hardcover 'cause most of the library books were. (And I hope I'm not mixing up 2 different books.)
    – equin0x80
    Oct 27, 2021 at 13:42
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    Possibly a fool's errand, but could you contact your English teacher or school library?
    – Valorum
    Oct 27, 2021 at 13:48
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    No. It was 1993. They're all dead. We are the post-apocalyptic kids in the library now.
    – equin0x80
    Oct 27, 2021 at 13:52
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    ^_^ We're not that old, but indeed, the odds of a librarian remembering a book you read two decades ago, unless it was one very dear to them, is a bit remote. Do you remember if the kids interacted with anyone other than the monster? Was it defined what caused the apocalypse? Was the library initially buried, buried under the rubble, housing a fallout shelter? Had the apocalypse just happened, or were they just now escaping?
    – FuzzyBoots
    Oct 27, 2021 at 16:01

1 Answer 1

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This could be Why Weeps the Brogan?, by Hugh Scott. It's been a while since I read it, and I can't put my hands on a copy right now, but it is about a sister and brother who are trapped in a museum. There has been an apocalyptic event and something they call The Brogan is too scary to get past.

Sorry, I can't remember the resolution, but the reviews and book covers on Goodreads may help jog your memory.

(The Brogan turns out to be

the children's mother, who has been horribly deformed & seems not to be able to speak, but was keeping them inside and safe.)

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    Ahh, yes, the title rings a bell, and it was published in 1991!
    – equin0x80
    Oct 31, 2021 at 14:37

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