Teen Reads – Dystopia
I devoured the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins a while ago, and am now patiently awaiting the much-hyped moviethat is coming out in March. I have loved dystopian literature for a long time and am glad to see it is now a huge trend in young adult literature. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a dystopia as: "An imaginary place or condition in which everything is as bad as possible." In other words the opposite of a Utopia. Someone has to step up and rebel, and that almost always makes a great, exciting story!
Lately, I've been trying to find reads that will fill the void left by the Hunger Games, and here are two excellent choices:
Divergentby Veronica Roth
In a dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions based on the devotion to a particular virtue: Candor(honesty), Abnegation(selflessness), Dauntless(bravery), Amity (peacefulness), Erudite(intelligence). On an appointed day on their sixteenth birthday, all youth must choose which faction they will join. An aptitude test taken before choosing day will help them decide if they stay with their family or join a new faction. Beatrice Prior's aptitude test is inconclusive, showing that she is something rare, and very dangerous to society- a divergent. She is told to hide this fact at all cost, as it will put her life in danger. Conflicted, Beatrice decides to leave her loving family and quiet life in Abnegation and reinvent herself as the wild, brave Tris in the Dauntless faction. Will she survive the dangerous and violent Dauntless initiation? And will she be able to keep the fact she is Divergent a secret for long? Along the way she makes loyal friends, dangerous enemies and even finds love. This is an exciting page-turner, guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!
The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking Trilogy Book 1 by Patrick Ness
In Prentisstown in New World, Todd Hewitt is alone in a town of men. New World has been colonized by settlers, who have wiped out the native Spackles, but not before the "Spacks" released a dangerous virus that infected all the settlers. Everyone has been infected with the Noise virus, which allows everyone's thoughts to be broadcast and heard by everyone else. They live in a constant cacophony of Noise. Also,all the women have died, it is a world of men, and Todd is the last boy. Despite the Noise, Prentisstown is hiding dark secrets. Being raised by his stern guardians Ben and Cillian, Todd is months away from becoming a man, but suddenly, he must flee his safe farm life with his loyal dog Manchee. Todd and Manchee have stumbled across something strange and dangerous…and quiet. This is a gritty and exciting read, written in a unique style.
2 thoughts on “Teen Reads – Dystopia”
I love dystopian fiction too! Thanks–some new items for my reading list.
Dystopia fans may enjoy Against Nature.
The U.S. is ground-zero for a mysterious global pandemic. The disease is highly infectious and kills its victims within two weeks of exposure. It’s neither bacteria nor a virus and all traditional treatment regimens have failed.
Serena Salus, a radical scientist, discovers the organism is an extraterrestrial dust mite brought to earth by a shuttle astronaut. The government contends it’s a genetically-engineered organism created on earth by enemies of freedom.
Dr. Salus uncovers a vile plan for distributing her experimental vaccine and finds herself in a deadly confrontation with powerful forces that’ll stop at nothing to control the distribution of her vaccine.