Dread Nation by Justine Ireland

What if all of the dead rose before the Union's decisive victory at Gettysburg? What if instead of fighting each other, now people were fighting the dead? Dread Nation reimagines history in this action packed historical novel. Jane is the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner, but she is colored and can't rightly be claimed. Due to the Native and Negro Reeducation Act she is forced to leave her Kentucky home to go to a finishing school for Attendants in Baltimore. Attendants are meant to protect the wealthy white families from the dead and are trained in the art of combat. But when families around Baltimore start going missing, Jane gets caught investigating and sent to a frontier town surrounded by the dead. She will need her wits and her strength to survive. Recommended for grades 7 and up.