ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how comfort and narrative closure are addressed in post-apocalyptic stories, and how elements of despair are addressed through a text's narrative closure or conclusion. Beginning with an examination of Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay (and its 2015 film adaptation) and concluding with an examination of Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle (2014), it interrogates the logics of comfort and happiness that come along with the implementation of epilogues in queer YA narratives. Particular attention is given to the emotional and political effects of narrative closures that are designed to discomfort readers, rather than console and reassure them.
