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IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: Dystopian Classics and Series

A brave female protagonist must make a life-altering choice between her family and her true

self. The more she learns about what she is, the more dangerous her journey becomes.

A community of boys with no memory of their previous lives are gradually sent to the Glade, a

mysterious place surrounded by a deadly maze. Their home becomes a ticking time bomb as

they race to find a way out.

A girl discovers she has a supernatural bloodline after her mom is abducted by demons.

A deadly plague ravages Earth, and the future depends on a cyborg, who finds herself at the

center of an intergalactic struggle and a forbidden attraction with a prince.

If these plot lines intrigue you, then you’re drawn to the genre known as dystopian literature.

Dystopia is defined as “a futuristic imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and

the illusion of a perfect society is maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological,

moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a

criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.” – from “Dystopias: Definition and

Characteristics, Read-Write-Think, ©2006 IRA/NCTE.

So if you like your escape from reality to have strong, independent characters and a bit of social

or political bite, try reading these featured novels.

THEMES Survival

Identity

Rebellion

Fear

Power and Corruption

Family Relations

Friendship

Guilt and Blame

Competition

Choices

(A list of supporting material for these themes is available at the end of the document.)

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DYSTIOPIAN CLASSICS

Title Author Summary THE HANDMAID’S

TALE

Atwood, Margaret FIC ATW

It is the world of the near future, and Offred is a Handmaid in the home of the Commander and his wife. She is allowed out once a day to the food market, she is not permitted to read, and she is hoping the Commander makes her pregnant, because she is only valued if her ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she was an independent woman, had a job of her own, a husband and child. But all of that is gone now...everything has changed.

ORYX AND CRAKE The MaddAddam Series - Oryx and Crake - The Year of the Flood - MaddAddam

Atwood, Margaret FIC ATW

Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey-with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake-through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.

PLANET OF THE

APES

Boulle, Pierre FIC BOU

A skeptical non-human couple retrieve a bottle in space with a strange story. In the not-too-distant future, three men rocket to an Earth-like planet with temperate lush forests. But here humans are savages who destroy their shuttle; apes their civilized masters who kill one, capture the narrator.

FAHRENHEIT 451 Bradbury, Ray FIC BRA

Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires... The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning ... along with the houses in which they were hidden. Guy Montag enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs nor the joy of watching pages consumed by flames... never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then he met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think... and Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do!

A CLOCKWORK

ORANGE

Burgess, Anthony FIC BUR

A vicious fifteen-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic, whose stark terror was captured in Stanley Kubrick's magnificent film of the same title. In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alex—to "redeem" him—the novel asks, "At what cost?"

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Title Author Summary DO ANDROIDS

DREAM OF

ELECTRIC SHEEP?

Dick, Philip K. FIC DIC

The inspiration for Bladerunner. By 2021, the World War had killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn't afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep. . . They even built humans. Émigrés to Mars received androids so sophisticated it was impossible to tell them from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans could wreak, the government banned them from Earth. But when androids didn't want to be identified, they just blended in. Rick Deckard was an officially sanctioned bounty hunter whose job was to find rogue androids, and to retire them. But cornered, androids tended to fight back, with deadly results.

THE MINORITY

REPORT Dick, Philip K. FIC DIC

In the world of The Minority Report, Commissioner John Anderton is the one to thank for the lack of crime. He is the originator of the Precrime System, which uses precogs--people with the power to see into the future--to identify criminals before they can do any harm. Unfortunately for Anderton, his precogs perceive him as the next criminal.

A SCANNER DARKLY Dick, Philip K. FIC DIC

Substance D is not known as Death for nothing. It is the most toxic drug ever to find its way on to the streets of LA. It destroys the links between the brain's two hemispheres, causing, first, disorientation and then complete and irreversible brain damage. The undercover narcotics agent who calls himself Bob Arctor is desperate to discover the ultimate source of supply. But to find any kind of lead he has to pose as a user and, inevitably, without realising what is happening, Arctor is soon as addicted as the junkies he works among.

THE MACHINE

STOPS

Forster, E. M. FIC FOR

The story describes a world in which most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth. Each individual now lives in isolation below ground in a standard “cell,” with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine. Travel is permitted but unpopular and rarely necessary. Communication is made via a kind of instant messaging/video conferencing machine with which people conduct their only activity: the sharing of ideas and what passes for knowledge.

THE BEACH Garland, Alex FIC GAR

The Khao San Road, Bangkok -- first stop for the hordes of rootless young Westerners traveling in Southeast Asia. On Richards first night there, in a low-budget guest house, a fellow traveler slashes his wrists, bequeathing to Richard a meticulously drawn map to "the Beach." The Beach, as Richard has come to learn, is the subject of a legend among young travelers in Asia: a lagoon hidden from the sea, with white sand and coral gardens, freshwater falls surrounded by jungle, plants untouched for a thousand years. There, it is rumored, a carefully selected international few have settled in a communal Eden. Haunted by the figure of Mr. Duck -- the name by which the Thai police have identified the dead man -- and his own obsession with Vietnam movies, Richard sets off with a young French couple to an island hidden away in an archipelago forbidden to tourists. They discover the Beach, and it is as beautiful and idyllic as it is reputed to be. Yet over time it becomes clear that Beach culture, as Richard calls it, has troubling, even deadly, undercurrents.

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Title Author Summary LORD OF THE FLIES Golding,

William FIC GOL

When a plane crashes on a remote island, a small group of schoolboys are the sole survivors. From the prophetic Simon and virtuous Ralph to the lovable Piggy and brutish Jack, each of the boys attempts to establish control as the reality- and brutal savagery-of their situation sets in.

LOST HORIZON Hilton, James FIC HIL

While attempting to escape a civil war, four people are kidnapped and transported to the Tibetan mountains. After their plane crashes, they are found by a mysterious Chinese man. He leads them to a monastery hidden in "the valley of the blue moon" -- a land of mystery and matchless beauty where life is lived in tranquil wonder, beyond the grasp of a doomed world.

BRAVE NEW WORLD Huxley, Aldous FIC HUX

Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs, all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone harbouring an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations, where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress.

THE CHILDREN OF

MEN

James, P. D. FIC JAM

Told with P. D. James' trademark suspense, insightful characterization, and riveting storytelling, The Children of Men is a story of a world with no children and no future. The human race has become infertile, and the last generation to be born is now adult. Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race.

NEVER LET ME GO Kazuo, Ishiguro FIC KAZ

Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it. Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.

THE TRIAL Kafka, Franz FIC KAF

The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.

THE RUNNING

MAN

King, Stephen FIC KIN

The Running Man is set within a dystopian future in which the poor are seen more by the government as worrisome rodents than actual human beings. The protagonist of The Running Man, Ben Richards, is quick to realize this as he watches his daughter, Cathy, grow sicker by the day and tread closer and closer to death. Desperate for money to pay Cathy’s medical bills, Ben enlists himself in a true reality style game show where the objective is to merely stay alive.

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Title Author Summary UNDER THE DOME King, Stephen

FIC KIN On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.

THE LATHE OF

HEAVEN

Le Guin, Ursula FIC LEG

George Orr is a man who discovers he has the peculiar ability to dream things into being -- for better or for worse. In desperation, he consults a psychotherapist who promises to help him -- but who, it soon becomes clear, has his own plans for George and his dreams. The Lathe of Heaven is a dark vision and a warning -- a fable of power uncontrolled and uncontrollable. It is a truly prescient and startling view of humanity, and the consequences of playing God.

THE STEPFORD

WIVES

Levin, Ira FIC LEV

For Joanna, her husband, Walter, and their children, the move to beautiful Stepford seems almost too good to be true. It is. For behind the town's idyllic facade lies a terrible secret -- a secret so shattering that no one who encounters it will ever be the same. At once a masterpiece of psychological suspense and a savage commentary on a media-driven society that values the pursuit of youth and beauty at all costs, The Stepford Wives is a novel so frightening in its final implications that the title itself has earned a place in the American lexicon.

IT CAN’T HAPPEN

HERE

Lewis, Sinclair FIC LEW

It Can't Happen Here is a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression when America was largely oblivious to Hitler's aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a President who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, rampant promiscuity,

crime, and a liberal press.

THE IRON HEEL London, Jack FIC LON

A dystopian novel about the terrible oppressions of an American oligarchy at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, and the struggles of a socialist revolutionary movement.

THE ROAD McCarthy, Cormac FIC MCC

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

CLOUD ATLAS Mitchell, David FIC MIT

A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan's California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified "dinery server" on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation – the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other's echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are

changed in ways great and small.

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Title Author Summary 1Q84 Murakami,

Haruki FIC MUR

A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.

LOGAN’S RUN Nolan, William F. FIC NOL

It's the 23rd Century and at age 21, your life is over! Logan-6 has been trained to kill; born and bred from conception to be the best of the best. But his time is short and before his life ends he's got one final mission: Find and destroy Sanctuary, a fabled haven for those that chose to defy the system. But when Logan meets and falls in love with Jessica, he begins to question the very system he swore to protect and soon they're both running for their lives. When Last Day comes, will you lie down and die... or run!

ANIMAL FARM

Orwell, George FIC ORW

Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." This 1945 satire addresses the socialist/communist philosophy of Stalin in the Soviet Union.

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR

Orwell, George FIC ORW

The year 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell's prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of "negative utopia" -a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. No one can deny the novel's hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions -a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.

ANTHEM Rand, Ayn FIC RAN

In Anthem, Rand examines a frightening future in which individuals have no name, no independence, and no values. Equality 7-2521 lives in the dark ages of the future where all decisions are made by committee, all people live in collectives, and all traces of individualism have been wiped out. Despite such a restrictive environment, the spark of individual thought and freedom still burns in him--a passion which he has been taught to call sinful. In a purely egalitarian world, Equality 7-2521 dares to stand apart from the herd--to think and choose for himself, to discover electricity, and to love the woman of his choice. Now he has been marked for death for committing the ultimate sin. In a world where the great "we" reign supreme, he has rediscovered the lost and holy word--"I."

ATLAS SHRUGGED Rand, Ayn FIC RAN

This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators? Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the world’s motor — and the motive power of every man? You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the characters in this story.

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Title Author Summary BLINDNESS Saramago,

José FIC SAR

A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.

ON THE BEACH Shute, Neville FIC SHU

After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the globe, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cloud that is heading their way and bringing certain death to everyone in its path. Among them is an American submarine captain struggling to resist the knowledge that his wife and children in the United States must be dead. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from somewhere near Seattle, and Captain Towers must lead his submarine crew on a bleak tour of the ruined world in a desperate search for signs of life. Both terrifying and intensely moving, On the Beach is a remarkably convincing portrait of how ordinary people might face the most unimaginable nightmare

CAT’S CRADLE Vonnegut, Kurt FIC VON

Cat’s Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet’s ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best.

GALÁPAGOS Vonnegut, Kurt FIC VON

Galápagos takes the reader back one million years, to A.D. 1986. A simple vacation cruise suddenly becomes an evolutionary journey. Thanks to an apocalypse, a small group of survivors stranded on the Galápagos Islands are about to become the progenitors of a brave, new, and totally different human race. In this inimitable novel, America's master satirist looks at our world and shows us all that is sadly, madly awry-and all that is worth saving.

THE ISLAND OF

DOCTOR MOREAU

Wells, H. G. FIC WEL

One of H.G. Wells' s most visionary tales, The Island of Doctor Moreau relates the disturbing tale of Pendrick, a shipwrecked naturalist who unwittingly discovers a horrific scientific and social experiment that is creating a mutant race of hideous creatures, half-human and half-beast. Terrifying and spellbinding, Wells' s masterpiece warns of the catastrophe that could result when man recklessly tampers with nature. Eric Vincent' s artwork vividly summons up the nightmarish life in Dr. Moreau' s tortured world.

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Title Author Summary THE TIME MACHINE Wells, H. G.

FIC WEL “I’ve had a most amazing time....” So begins the Time Traveller’s astonishing firsthand account of his journey 800,000 years beyond his own era—and the story that launched H.G. Wells’ successful career and earned him his reputation as the father of science fiction. With a speculative leap that still fires the imagination, Wells sends his brave explorer to face a future burdened with our greatest hopes...and our darkest fears. A pull of the Time Machine’s lever propels him to the age of a slowly dying Earth. There he discovers two bizarre races—the ethereal Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks—who not only symbolize the duality of human nature, but offer a terrifying portrait of the men of tomorrow as well.

THE CHRYSALIDS Wyndham, John FIC WYN

When David is old enough to realize that, while not visibly abnormal, mentally he - and others - are different, more than human, he is terrified of discovery. He lives in a land threatened by the twisted mutants of the cursed Fringes, a land where genetic conformity is the Will of God, and any deviation, from a minor quirk to a bodywarping distortion, marks the sufferer as nonhuman, to be cruelly abused and ruthlessly cast out. If their ability to communicate using thought alone is found out, David and his friends would be in terrible danger. They would have to run - but where to? And who is this new, distant thought-voice they can hear? Could it be from the impossible glittering cities that David has dreamt of, places from the past, from before God sent his terrible earth-scorching destruction to punish the wicked? And might it hold the key to their freedom...'

THE DAY OF THE

TRIFFIDS

Wyndham, John FIC WYN

Bill Masen, bandages over his wounded eyes, misses the most spectacular meteorite shower England has ever seen. Removing his bandages the next morning, he finds masses of sightless people wandering the city. He soon meets Josella, another lucky person who has retained her sight, and together they leave the city, aware that the safe, familiar world they knew a mere twenty-four hours before is gone forever. But to survive in this post-apocalyptic world, one must survive the Triffids, strange plants that years before began appearing all over the world. The Triffids can grow to over seven feet tall, pull their roots from the ground to walk, and kill a man with one quick lash of their poisonous stingers. With society in shambles, they are now poised to prey on humankind. Wyndham chillingly anticipates bio-warfare and mass destruction, fifty years before their realization, in this prescient account of Cold War paranoia.

WE Zamyatin, Yevgeny FIC ZAM

Written in 1921 by the Russian revolutionary Yevgeny Zamyatin, this story of the thirtieth century is set in the One State, a society where all live for the collective good and individual freedom does not exist. The novel takes the form of the diary of state mathematician D-503, who, to his shock, experiences the most disruptive emotion imaginable: love for another human being. At once satirical and sobering, We speaks to all who have suffered under repression of their personal and artistic freedom.

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A DYSTOPIAN YOUNG ADULT SERIES SAMPLER

Series Author Summary PURE TRILOGY - Pure - Fuse - Burn

Baggott, Juliana FIC BAG

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . . Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

THE GRACELING REALM - Graceling - Fire - Bitterblue

Cashore, Kristin FIC CAS

Kristin Cashore’s bestselling, award-winning fantasy Graceling tells the story of the vulnerable-yet-strong Katsa, a smart, beautiful teenager who lives in a world where selected people are given a Grace, a special talent that can be anything from dancing to swimming. Katsa’s is killing. As the king’s niece, she is forced to use her extreme skills as his thug. Along the way, Katsa must learn to decipher the true nature of her Grace… and how to put it to good use. A thrilling, action-packed fantasy adventure (and steamy romance!) that will resonate deeply with adolescents trying to find their way in the world.

THE ENDER QUINTET - Ender’s Game - A War of Gifts - Ender in Exile - Speaker for the Dead - Xenocide - Children of the Mind

Card, Orson Scott FIC CAR

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut--young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. The novels in the series chronicle Ender’s journey. Will he become the hero humanity so desperately needs?

THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS SERIES - City of Bones - City of Ashes - City of Glass - City of Fallen Angels - City of Lost Souls - City of Heavenly Fire

Clare, Cassandra FIC CLA

Suddenly able to see demons and the Shadowhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into a bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster. The main theme revolving around each of Clare’s works is the idea of self-acceptance and coming into one’s own in relation to the choices we make and the consequences that follow.

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Series Author Summary THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY - The Hunger Games - Catching Fire - Mocking Jay

Collins, Suzanne FIC COL

The Hunger Games trilogy takes place in an unspecified future time, in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, located in the ruins of North America. The country consists of the wealthy Capitol, located in the Rocky Mountains, and 12 (formerly 13) poorer districts ruled by the Capitol. The Capitol is lavishly rich and technologically advanced, but the 12 districts are in varying states of poverty. The trilogy's narrator and protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, lives in District 12, the poorest region of Panem, formerly known as Appalachia, where people regularly die of starvation. As punishment for a past rebellion against the Capitol (called the "Dark Days"), wherein 12 of the districts were defeated, and the 13th was supposedly destroyed, one boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts, between the ages of 12 and 18, are selected by lottery to compete in the Hunger Games on an annual basis. The Games are a televised event in which the participants, called "tributes", are forced to fight to the death in a dangerous public arena. The winning tribute and his/her home district are then rewarded with food, supplies, and riches. The purposes of the Hunger Games are to provide entertainment for the Capitol and to remind the districts of the Capitol's power and lack of remorse.

THE MAZE RUNNER SERIES - The Maze Runner - The Scorch Trials - The Death Cure - The Kill Order - The Fever Code

Dashner, James FIC DAS

The series describes the story of a number of teenagers, who call themselves "The Gladers" left in a strange place which they call "The Glade". Beyond the walls of the glade lie the ever changing maze, with its horrifying creatures which the Gladers call Grievers. Every month a newcomer joins the Gladers, sent by a lift with all past memories (except language and other common things) wiped out. The ultimate goal of the remaining Gladers is to find a way out of the glade. To do so, runners (a special group within the Gladers) venture out into the maze to map it in an attempt to find a pattern in the maze that would lead them to find an exit. The enormous walls of the maze change every day. When Thomas, an extra curious newcomer, arrives at the Glade and ventures into the maze, unusual things begin to happen. The Kill Order and The Fever Code are prequels to the series.

THE GONE SERIES - Gone - Hunger - Lies - Plague - Fear - Light

Grant, Michael FIC GRA

The series is centered on the fictional Southern Californian town of Perdido Beach, in which every human aged 15 and older vanishes. The town and surrounding areas become encased within an impenetrable energy barrier, with many of its inhabitants developing supernatural powers. The books follow the exploits of the protagonist, Sam Temple, as he battles antagonists Caine Soren and Drake Merwin, as well as a mysterious, malevolent creature, known as the Darkness or the gaiaphage (derived from Gaia, a Greek personification of the Earth, and "phage", from the Greek φαγεῖν phagein "to devour").

THE ENEMY SERIES - The Enemy - The Dead - The Fear - The Sacrifice - The Fallen - The Hunted - The End

Higson, Charles FIC HIG

When the sickness came, every parent, police officer, politician - every adult fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry. Only children under fourteen remain, and they're fighting to survive.

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Series Author Summary LORIEN LEGACIES - I Am Number Four - The Power of Six - The Rise of Nine - The Fall of Five - The Revenge of Seven - The Fate of Ten - United as One

Lore, Pittacus FIC LOR

The series follows the story of nine human-looking aliens brought to Earth when they were six years old. Their purpose is to grow into their powers and return to their planet, Lorien, and get it back from the evil Mogadorians. The teenagers have been protected by a charm, which only allows them to be killed in a set order and by non-gifted guardians called Cêpan.

THE GIVER QUARTET - The Giver - Gathering Blue - Messenger - Son

Lowry, Lois FIC LOW

The novels are set in a society which is at first presented as a utopian society but gradually appears more and more dystopian. Each book has a different protagonist, but is set in the same futuristic era, the world of the Giver, where there is no hunger, war, or poverty, but where its inhabitants are deprived of choice, spontaneity, and most memorably, color.

THE LEGEND SERIES - Legend - Prodigy - Champion

Lu, Marie FIC LU

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this series is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.

MY NEW NORMAL - The Aftermath - The Inside - The Others - The Outside - The Beginning

Michelle, Sara FIC MIC

Cecilia has always been secure in her world. A high school cheerleader, she is pretty and popular. And she dates Ryan, one of the cutest boys in her school. She leads a charmed and pampered life. Clearly everyone forgot the warnings buried deep in the quatrains of Nostradamus-- the end of days. When the world they know is destroyed, will their struggle to survive destroy their love? This new normal-- this new life-- is cruel and unpredictable and tests both of them in ways that they've never imagined. But it's not the end, only the beginning, but the beginning of what?

THE LUNAR CHRONICLES - Cinder - Scarlet - Cress - Fairest - Winter

Meyer, Marissa FIC MEY

Each book entails a new take on an old fairy tale, including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White. The story takes place in a futuristic world where humans, cyborgs, and androids all coexist.

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Series Author Summary CHAOS WALKING - The Knife of Never Letting Go - The Ask and the Answer - Monsters of Men

Ness, Patrick FIC NES

The series is set in a dystopian world where all living creatures can hear each other's thoughts in a stream of images, words, and sounds called Noise. The series is named after a line in the first book: "The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking."

THE LAST SURVIVORS SERIES - Life As We Knew It - The Dead and Gone - This World We Live In - The Shadow of the Moon

Pfeffer, Susan Beth FIC PFE

When a meteor hits the Moon, Miranda must learn to survive the unimaginable. Told in journal entries, this heart-pounding story chronicles Miranda's struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

THE DIVERGENT SERIES - Divergent - Insurgent - Allegiant - Four

Roth, Veronica FIC ROT FIC ROT

The society of the trilogy defines its citizens by their social and personality-related affiliation with five different factions, which removes the threat of anyone exercising independent will and threatening the population's safety. Beatrice Prior, who later changes her name to Tris, an Abnegation-born and Dauntless transfer, must figure out her life as a Divergent, while concealing her true nature, and living with the danger of being killed if it is discovered by the Erudite and Dauntless leaders. Four presents a series of short stories told from the perspective of one of the trilogy's characters.

THE STRAIN TRILOGY - The Strain - The Fall - The Night Eternal

Toro, Guillermo del FIC TOR

A plane lands at JFK and mysteriously ‘goes dark’, stopping in the middle of the runway for no apparent reason, all lights off, all doors sealed. The pilots cannot be raised. When the hatch above the wing finally clicks open, it soon becomes clear that everyone on board is dead – although there is no sign of any trauma or struggle. Ephraim Goodweather and his team from the Center for Disease Control must work quickly to establish the cause of this strange occurrence before panic spreads.

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Series Author Summary THE UGLIES SERIES - Uglies - Pretties - Specials - Extras

Westerfeld, Scott FIC WES

Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that? Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

THE 5TH WAVE SERIES - The 5th Wave - The Infinite Sea - The Last Star

Yancey, Richard FIC YAN

A race of aliens known as "The Others" have invaded Earth in a series of "waves". With the first wave, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP wave) throws the world into darkness by knocking out all power, including vehicles, devices, etc. In the process, around half a million people die as all moving vehicles are shorted, including planes in the air. For the second wave, The Others, realizing that over 40 percent of Earth's population lives within 60 miles of a coastline, drop metal rods three times as heavy and twice as tall as the Empire State Building on Earth's fault lines from their mothership. As a result, unimaginably large tsunamis and powerful earthquakes rage across the planet. This kills three billion people. For a third wave, a deadly disease sweeps across the world, carried by birds. The disease goes by many names: the Red Death, the Red Tsunami, the Blood Plague, the Pestilence, and the Fourth Horseman, most common. The disease kills 97 percent of Earth's scattered survivors. The disease is thought to have been an already deadly virus (Ebola for example) genetically modified by The Others. By the fourth wave, The Others, have scattered the last surviving humans. They have "downloaded" themselves (as they are able to separate their conscience from bodies) to humans and they have awakened, now picking off Earth's survivors, one-by-one. The series follows Cassie Sullivan and several other young survivors of the first four waves as they desperately try to survive in a new world, reshaped by the Others.

THE DUSTLANDS TRILOGY - Blood Red Road - Rebel Heart - Raging Star

Young, Moira FIC YOU

Saba is forced to flee Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms, when four cloaked horsemen capture her beloved twin brother Lugh. Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the outside world, Saba discovers she is a fierce fighter—and when she teams up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her civilization.

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SUPPORTING MATERIALS

The following books from the Critical Insights series will help you further explore themes in dystopian works. All

of these are also available through the Salem Press Online link on the Kelvin Library website. User information is

available in the Library.

CALL NUMBER TITLE SUMMARY

809 COM Coming of Age This volume presents a variety of essays on the perennial theme. Rounding out the volume are a list of literary works not mentioned in the book that concern the theme of coming of age and as well as a bibliography of critical sources for readers seeking to study this timeless theme in greater depth.

809 CUL Cultural Encounters As cultures around the world have come into contact with and grown alongside one another, they have had to engage in complex personal, economic, and social relationships—all of which have found their way into numerous literary works. Often fraught, these relationships have had a lasting impact on the modern world and modern literature.

809 DYS Dystopia To be dystopian, a work needs to foreground the oppressive society in which it is set, using that setting as an opportunity to comment in a critical way on some other society, typically that of the author and/or the audience. In other worlds, the bleak dystopian world should encourage the reader or viewer to think critically about it, then to transfer this critical thinking to his or her own world.

809 HER The Hero’s Quest Addresses the theme of the hero's quest in literature; explores historical and cultural contexts. Works discussed include The Odyssey, The Aeneid, The Inferno, Gulliver's Travels, Moby Dick, His Dark Materials, and Heart of Darkness.

809 TEC Technology and Humanity

From the automata of the ancients to humanity's fascination with time travel, robotics, and space, to cyberpunk and Japanese anime, the volume explores the myriad ways technology has flavored the world's literature and film.

809 VIO Violence in Literature This title is broken up into three sections: Critical Contexts, Critical Readings, and a resource appendix. The first touches upon the foundations of violence in ancient Greek literature, the representation of violence, violence in Things Fall Apart, and American literature dealing with war. The second section, Critical Readings, delves into essays on individual works. The essays review past and current criticism of works that include violence around the world.

809.915 MAG Magical Realism Analyses the evolution of magical realism as well as its manifestations in different cultures. Several essays discuss the struggle between the hegemonic imposition of western modernity and subaltern, ethnicized, non-western conceptualizations in the Third World. Magical realist cultural production is thus seen as a tool for questioning Eurocentric views, as it endows non-western worldviews with additional agency.

820.9 GOO Good and Evil Addresses the theme of good and evil in literature; explores historical and cultural contexts. Works discussed include King Lear; Paradise Lost; Maus; The Scarlet Letter; Jane Eyre; The Picture of Dorian Gray; The Farming of Bones; Train to Pakistan; Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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A. Osborne, Teacher-Librarian