YA post-apocalyptic sci-fi, living in a walled city with "breather" machines

When I was a kid I read a book that I thought was called "the wall." I read this no later than 1995, but it could be from much much earlier, maybe the 70s or 80s.

It was set in post-apocalypse. The earth was no longer breathable so people lived inside a giant wall, with machines called "breathers" to clean the air, and moving sidewalks that no longer worked, and I think some sort of video-books... but its so far into the future that "futuristic" things have become defunct, too. (e.g. the now-still moving sidewalks)

The main character was a kid (girl I think). At the end of the book she goes outside the wall and the earth has actually healed itself.

It was suggested that this *may* be "Outside" by Andre Norton. I've got it on order to find out, but the clincher will be these breathing machines.

Thanks!

This has a slight air of John Christopher about it - he went in for YA post-apocalyptic stuff. Your description doesn't ring a bell, but he might be worth a look.

I Googled "Outside" "Andre Norton" and "breathers" and got a quote from a book of his called Moon Mirror.

This from Amazon and another website (http://andre-norton-books.com) about a short story in the same book:

"Desirable Lakeside Residence" - So says the sign beside the lake: one of the few remaining on the continent, where people need breathers to venture outside on the streets of cities. But something strange has been happening to it, ever since a geologist's rock collection - including lunar samples - was dumped in.

H. M. Hoover has also written a whole boatload of children's sf, back in the 70s and 80s - I don't recall one with breathing machines, but I haven't read them all.

>#3 Mama: Just wanted to clue you in...Andre Norton is female. I know...fooled me too for many years. Anyway, it sounds like you may have found the poster's missing book. Excellent searching.

Another YA book that is post-apocalyptic and involves moving sidewalks is The Tutti Frutti Connection by Alan Cameron. I'm not sure if it is the one because I haven't read it.

I'm not sure if this list will help, but just in case...
Underground/dome to outside - children's/young adult science fiction.

It's probably not Nitrogen Fix by Hal Clement, since there are a few things that don't match up, but I'll toss it out there for elimination purposes.

From the above list I linked... I've yet to read it but did recall someone said elsewhere there are moving sidewalks in Suzanne Martel's The City Under Ground.

The book is also on the Frequently sought stories page on the Name that book home page, just above the red "tips for posting" sign, both of which should be at the top...

Snippet view from Google search inside the book:
"... At times the lights flickered and dimmed, and the moving sidewalks slowed down. As a precaution, emergency kits had been issued. Luke and Eric were wearing theirs now, light plastic tubes slung over their shoulders, each containing a gas mask and a ray helmet. By a strange coincidence, the apparatus which was meant to help him survive under the earth was the very thing that had encouraged Luke to explore the mysteries of the outer world. Without his ray helmet he would never have dared to crawl ..."
- Kirkus Review.
- CM Magazine review.

>5 MerryMary: So she is! Thanks for letting me know :)

About the breather machines - do people have individual breather machines and wear masks, or do the breather machines make the air in the city breathable so people don't need to wear masks?

(embarassing, but I can't figure out how to change the subject to read "found." Feel free to humor my inability to find the right help page and tell me/share a link. I know this will be a duh moment... :P )

Thanks, everyone- y'all are AMAZING! I just got "Outside" (by Andre Norton: note, she is a woman, thanks for the reminder, MerryMary) Upon reading a few sentences I had a wild sort "recognition," literally, my mind felt like it was thinking as I did when I was little... quite a weird experience... and then went on to confirm the "breathers" that were what stood out to me so strongly back then.

Isabelx: the breathers make the air breathable at large, though a number have started to break down, and so the kids can't be in that part of the city.

Key aspects for reference, in case this comes up again from someone else:
all the adults have died of a fever
the kids are divided into "littles" and "bigs"
the main character is Kristie and her older brother Lew
the kids live in gangs called "crowds" and survive by looting what's left of the city, but food is getting more scarce
the machines have broken down and they don't know how to fix them, and the water seems to be running out
there is a "rhyming man" that leads kids out of the city
the earth outside the dome has healed itself

A powerful narrative for a kid who grew up afraid of nuclear annihilation and didn't have any adults to talk to about how to save the planet from destruction.

Thanks again!

Excellent glad you found the book! I haven't read that yet either, though have it, looks good. You can't edit the subject line of posts (after a few minutes I think, once posted, it becomes frozen).
Correct link to the book:
Andre Norton, Outside

>12 elizacorps: Your touchstone goes to the wrong book. You can pick the correct touchstone by clicking the "others" link and then clicking the title by Andre Norton. Or, if you know the work number you can type [95708::Outside]. Congrats on finding the book!!

Or put author surname, title in square brackets to link.

There are 2 versions of Andre Norton's Outside. The short version appears in The Book of Andre Norton - the first person narrator is one of the older boys in the nameless city, whose younger sister has been lured away.

The longer version splits the point of view, so that at least part of the story is told in the third person from the point of view of the younger sister.