Dystopian YA Fiction Reviews

Wikipedia defines Dystopian fiction as a society characterized by poverty, squalor, or oppression. My personal definition also involves an unknown leadership group who oppress to make the society more perfect in their eyes. Usually, the YA fiction focuses on a main character who discovers the charade, and escapes the walls of the society to see what else is out there.

My first experience with Dystopian fiction reading Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four in high school.  I don't even think I really read it very well, because I wasn't very good at required reading then.  I was much more about completing the papers as quickly as I could. Then, in 1997, I read Lois Lowry's The Giver as an assignment for my Master's in Education. Not only was it one of my first YA books that I had read as an adult, but also it was the very best book I read that year. I loved the open-endedness of the story as well as all of the questions it brought up regarding what societies need versus what they want. What makes a perfect society? Why do the "sheep" need protecting? Who gets to pick whether you are a sheep, sheep dog, or a wolf?

Some of the other Dystopian books that I have enjoyed are

Uglies (Uglies Trilogy, Book 1)  by Scott Westerfeld. 

I really like it when an author takes an idea and follows it to its logical conclusion. What would happen if everyone had to get a surgery at age 16 to become "Pretty?" Would everyone want it? What would it be like? What about the kids who didn't want it? Westerfeld explored each avenue in a fast-paced series appropriate for middle-schoolers. Discussion for this book would definitely include the question of what is pretty? Why does pretty matter? Does it matter? What about being the same? What are some positives about sameness? Individuality?

 The City of Ember (Books of Ember) by Jeanne DuPrau

I also liked City of Ember. This novel really held closer to the Wikipedia definition, where in a post-apocolyptic world, most of the people are poor and supplies are limited. One of my favorite parts of this book was when the main character gets a blue colored pencil. I love the rich imagery that DuPrau draws for us. I recommend the book over the movie (as usual), but don't look for any giant insects or some of the other strange additions from Hollywood.

Obernewtyn: The Obernewtyn Chronicles 1by Isobelle Carmody

This was a book recommended by a great friend for a book group a few years ago. This book is set in post-apocalyptic Australia (or something like Australia) and this book also has a main character who discovers that Oz is not all it is purported to be.  This whole series is quite good, but book 1 was my favorite of them.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

This book was one that made me keep thinking about it long after I had finished reading it. Set in a society that no longer has abortions, but instead, between the ages of 13-18, your parents or guardians can choose to have you unwound if you are not meeting your potential.  Being unwound involves donating your body and all of its parts to society for them to use for those needing organ donations. Every part is used, so the party line is that you don't really die, you become more useful.  There are also people who have had a lot of children, who choose to tithe a child as a way of giving back to society. This book was AMAZING! Shusterman takes us through three different character's journeys through the Unwind system. I loved how deeply this issue was explored. I would really recommend this book for an adult or YA book club.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Life as We Knew It takes you through the apocalypse itself. I found this book to be quite frightening. You will find yourself buying more and more canned goods while reading this book. Our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) recommends having a year supply of food. This book gives you a realistic situation in which that would be necessary. You will really find yourself attracted to the survival section at Borders after reading this book. The book is written in diary style and starts following a teenaged girl and her HS concerns until a meteor hits the moon, moving it much closer to Earth. This sets off tsunamis and earthquakes world-wide, electricity is knocked out everywhere, and since many volcanoes have erupted, the sun is blotted out by a dust cloud making plant growth impossible. WOW! Is this book heavy. It is not pleasure reading, but it follows one family and all of the choices that they make during this emergency. It too would make good discussion.

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner Trilogy, Book 1) by James Dashner

Maze Runner was more like Lord of the Flies than some of these other books. Only those boys of teenage years are found in this society and each day some of them need to go out an run the maze to discover clues to how to escape. This is until a new kid shows up and he has knowledge that they need.  I really enjoyed seeing the primitive society that these boys set up including their policing and punishments. This was a really creative book with some neat twists.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

One couldn't go through a list of YA dystopian fiction without mentioning the series that took us by storm the last few years...The Hunger Games trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games), and Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games)) Thankfully a movie is coming out and the producer has actually read the book and sounds committed to keeping the core of the book in the movie script in his interviews. (Unlike the farce that was Lightning Thief). I found it really hard to recommend this book to people because when you find yourself saying it is about kids having to fight to the death in order to win their town food for the year, it really doesn't sound that appealing. Collins handles this VERY well, and it is not near as gruesome as it sounds. I think this was one of the best books I read in 2009. I laughed and cried during this book.  At one point, it was embarrassing, boo hoo crying too. I mean, really. I think if you are into YA fiction and you haven't read this series, you are sorely missing a true piece of literature.

The Sky Inside by Clare B. Dunkle

My most recent foray into the Dystopian fiction society was The Sky Inside by Clare Dunkle.  I really enjoyed her The Hollow Kingdom: Book I -- The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy which was about a girl going to a goblin kingdom. This book was nothing like that, but I liked the quick writing style and the cool world she created. This world is "perfect." The stork brings the genetically engineered babies to the people who don't need to work because the bots do it for them. So, they are paid and encouraged to watch a lot of television and buy things that are advertised.  They even sing commercial jingles at school to occupy the children because they are the "lucky ones." Then, our hero does a little digging and finds out (per usual) that all is not right with his world. This book ends with a WIDE opening for a sequel. I recommend this to middle-school aged kids and up.

Girl in the Arenaby Lise Haines

Lastly, is a book I haven't yet read. (I'm still waiting on my library copy to become available). My old book club is going to be reading in a few months. This book follows a girl who is a professional gladiator where their blood sport is televised for the masses.  The premise reminds me a little of Running Man meets Hunger Games.  I'll do a more thorough review when I've actually read it, but Goodreads gives it a pretty low average of 3.08.  That's a little worrisome, but we'll see.

Girl in the Arena