Dystopian Fantasy
M: 6th, 7th, and 8th grades
J: 7th, 8th and 9th grades
S: High School Students
Bloodsong
Melvin Burgess, 2007 (S)
This stand-alone sequel to the adult book Bloodtide (2001) places Viking mythology into a futuristic, war-torn England populated by human-animal hybrids and organic machines, where young Sigurd embarks on a hero’s quest to restore peace to the kingdom.
PB / Y / Burgess
The City of Ember
Jeanne DuPrau, 2003 (MJ)
Embedded in a completely darkened world, a 241-year-old domed city built to ensure a home for humanity is running out of provisions, and the escape plan left by the original builders has been lost. The first book in the Books of Ember follows 12-year-olds Lina and Doon as they navigate a way out.
J / Duprau or J / BOD / DUP
The Declaration
Gemma Malley, 2007 (MJS)
In an overpopulated future, a wonder drug has been created that prevents most deaths, the caveat being that to get the drug, one must agree not to reproduce. Illegal “Surplus” children live on the fringes until two teens become aware of the massive injustice surrounding them.
Y / Malley
The Diary of Pelly D
L. J. Adlington, 2005 (JS)
Inspired by the Holocaust and buried diaries found in the Warsaw Ghetto, this grim tale tells the story of a young girl who seems to have it all until her planet decrees that the population be sorted into one of three genetic strains, and she finds herself among the despised Galrezi. Though set well after the action here, Cherry Heaven (2008) explores a different angle in the same world.
Y / Adlington
Exodus
Julie Bertagna, 2008 (MJS)
After a century of global warming, most of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. When Mara’s tiny home island finally submerges, she and her neighbors set sail and become refugees trapped outside a heavily walled, floating haven whose residents live in affluence, oblivious to the suffering outside.
Y / Bertagna
Feed
M. T. Anderson, 2002 (S)
In a premise that seems to be more scarily relevant almost by the minute, this satire posits a future where information is directly transmitted to people via feeds hardwired into their brains, diluting their thoughts into a vapid stream of consumerism, complacency, and conformity.
Y / Anderson
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins, 2008 (MJS)
After an unspecified apocalypse remaps the U.S. into the 12 territories of the ultrapowerful state of Panem, each region must send two children to compete in an annual televised death match, and Katniss finds herself thrust into the horrifying reality show. There is likely no more eagerly anticipated book than the next volume, Catching Fire, due in September.
Y / Collins or Y / BOD / Collins
The Knife of Never Letting Go
Patrick Ness, 2008 (JS)
In a settlement where the women have been wiped out and men’s thoughts are audible to all, Todd Hewitt is on the run, trailed by townsfolk who are determined to force him into compliance and complicity in their horrendous acts, in this first book in the Chaos Walking series.
Y / Ness
Little Brother
Cory Doctorow, 2008 (JS)
Perhaps most frightening for the fact that it takes place in the nearly here future rather than decades or centuries away, this thrilling anti-establishment anthem follows several teenagers as they both use and dodge technology, trying to buck the yoke of governmental hyper-surveillance following a terrorist attack.
Y / Doctorow or BOD / Y / Doctorow
The Sky Inside
Clare B. Dunkle, 2008 (MJ)
With his every need finely tended to, 13-year-old Martin doesn’t have much to worry about inside his steel-domed suburb. Until, that is, there’s a recall on a set of genetically engineered children, and he begins to wonder what’s outside his media-drenched oblivion. A sequel, The Walls Have Eyes, is due in August.
Y / Dunkle
Uglies
Scott Westerfeld, 2005 (JS)
In an image-obsessed future in which every 16-year-old is surgically enhanced, authorities threaten to withhold Tally’s cosmetic makeover unless she agrees to infiltrate the Smoke, rebels who embrace their ugliness and rail against the sterilization of beauty. Others installments include Pretties (2005), Specials (2006), and Extras (2008).
Y / Westerfeld
Unwind
Neal Shusterman, 2007 (JS)
After a war is fought between pro-life and pro-choice factions, abortion becomes outlawed, but unwanted teens can be signed away by their parents to be “unwound,” a process in which their bodies are harvested for parts. Three teens doomed to such a fate attempt to evade the authorities until their eighteenth birthdays, when they’ll be safe.
Y / Shusterman
