Dystopian books dominate—May 18, 2012
So long Vampires! There’s a new popular genre dominating the shelves in books stores and at Hastings Public Library: Dystopias. Ever since the movie version of the popular series The Hunger Games, hit theatres dystopian fiction has been a hot commodity in the library. A dystopia is defined as an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives. Since this is such a popular genre at the moment I thought I would give you some titles to try.
The Selection, by Kiera Cass tells the story of America Singer who lives in the caste-divided nation of Illea, which formed after a war that destroyed the United States. America is chosen to compete in the Selection, a contest of thirty-five girls to see which can win the heart of Illea's Prince Maxon, and become the future Queen of the country.
Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi, is set in a futuristic world, where teenager Nailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living, but when he finds a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he has to decide if he should strip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl.
Glow, by Amy Kathleen Ryan is a futuristic story in which two groups of space settlers set off for a new planet after Earth becomes unlivable, one group prospers and create new generations while the other does not and are unable to have children to populate the new planet. Young Waverly and her older boyfriend Kieran are separated when the infertile ship the New Horizon attacks their ship the Empyrean, killing many of the adults and kidnapping all the girls. Waverly and Kieran must fight their rivals so that they can be reunited.
Ashfall, by Mike Mullin tells the story of 15 year old Alex who must journey from Cedar Falls, Iowa, to Illinois to find his parents and sister after the eruption of a Yellowstone super volcano destroys his city and its surroundings. Alex must try to survive in a transformed landscape and a new society in which all the old rules of living have vanished.
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld takes place in a futuristic society in which every human is genetically enhanced to be “pretty” when they are 16 years old. Tally who is just about to turn 16 is faced with a difficult choice when her new friend Shay decides to risk life on the outside world of the “uglies” rather than submit to the forced operation.
Find these and many other dystopian novels at Hastings Public Library.
