Dystopian Literature Circles

edit: I can't make this post look right, so I'm probably going to go back and remove the images. I just don't have time this morning.

I have been gathering a collection of dystopian literature to prepare for Literature Circles. As I explained to my dad, dystopian YA literature is set in a broken (sometimes post-apocalyptic, but not always) society where personal freedoms have been infringed upon in some way, usually involving technology. The characters are usually young people coming of age in this oppressive society and searching for identity or freedom. There is usually a feeling of hope in a story from this genre, especially in the YA range.

So far, I've collected the following. First, books I've read:

And the books I need to read:

17 - This World We Live In, Susan Beth Pfeffer

I devoured This World We Live In with my usual speed, even though it meant staying up way too late reading on a school (well, work, really) night. I thoroughly enjoyed this series as a whole. It was a frightening glimpse of how our world can change in an instant. I've always enjoyed books with an apocalyptic bent, though.

This World We Live In seemed to suffer from what I'm beginning to think of as series-itis. The last book in many series (Inkdeath, Breaking Dawn, and even Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows come to mind) feels rushed and underedited. There is too much fluff as the characters and plot careen toward a conclusion that wraps up all the loose ends and ties them in a nice neat bow. This all happens at the expense of believable character development and realistic dialog and decision-making. I mean, I guess I can believe that Miranda would do the things she did, but in truth her choices seemed much less in character and in keeping with the spirit of the book than they had previously. I don't know...maybe I'm just picky.

12-16 and birthday books

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is the second book in a series about what would happen to the world as we know it if the moon were knocked just a little closer. This installment is set in New York City, where Alex Morales struggles to keep himself and his sisters alive through the first cruel winter. His struggles and experiences are quite different from Miranda's were in the first book. His mother is at work and his father is out of the country when the asteroid strikes the moon, meaning that he is the man of the house. He is able to rely on the Catholic church for awhile, but eventually even that chain of command breaks down and he is launched into a desperate struggle to get out of the dying city. I can't wait to see what the third book brings!

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

Written in classic Conroy style, this story touched on a new topic: homosexuality and the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's. I saw echoes of Beach Music and The Prince of Tides in the characters and events. In particular the beautiful and damaged heroines with their sibilant names seem as though they could walk in and out of each other's stories: Shyla, Starla, Sheba, and Savannah. Conroy's description of the hurricane which rips through Charleston captivated me and reminded me of the scene from Beach Music in which Shyla and Jack dance in the beach house as the waves tear it apart during a similar storm. It's fascinating to see so many symbols and devices used in so many different ways.

When the Wind Blows by James Patterson

I haven't quite finished this one, but I am enjoying it immensely. It's written in standard Patterson style: short chapters, lots of action and dialog, fast moving story, nice blend of science fact and character-driven morality. Also, I am confused by what I once read, that the Max in this book is not the same Max in the Maximum Ride books. I think that this cannot possibly be true, as she is nearly the same character! The other bird-kids are different, but really in name only. (And I think I prefer their names in this to their names in the YA books.)

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

As usual, this came out right before my birthday and Mom and Daddy gave it to me as a gift. I enjoyed it, although I am getting a little frustrated that the characters (specifically Morelli and Ranger) are completely static at this point. I would like to see them grow and change, as real people do in real life.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

This is definitively the most amazing book I've read yet this year. It tops Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, although in truth the two are related. In One Second After, an EMP is detonated over the United States, destroying all electronic devices in an instant. The novel, which is set in Black Mountain, North Carolina (a place with which I am reasonably familiar), then describes the efforts of the people there to survive as their world is thrown into chaos. The threat of an EMP is very real in our world today, where people rely increasingly on electronics to complete simple tasks and the generation which knew how to complete those tasks without electronics is dying out. This should be required reading for every American. It's simply terrifying, beautifully written, and compelling.

11 - Life as We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer

This book caught my eye because of the lovely illustration of the moon on the cover. Of course I was hooked when I figured out that the premise is that the moon has been struck by an asteroid and knocked closer to Earth. It is written in the form of a diary narrated by the main character, Miranda, who lives in a small town in Pennsylvania. It chronicles the hardships her family experiences as the Earth reacts to the effects of the moon's strengthened gravity.

As floods, storms, earthquakes, volcanoes, clouds of toxic ash, illness, and freezing temperatures wreak havoc on their world, Miranda and her family struggle to survive. Of course, I love stories of the apocalypse. This is an interesting take I've never read before. Pfeffer did a good job of creating empathetic, realistic characters.

I initially thought this would be a good read-aloud choice, but as I read further, I realized that it has an element of evangelism that, even though it doesn't come to anything good for the characters involved, might make some listeners uncomfortable. Also, there are a variety of mentions of personal things, like Miranda's period and her budding relationship with Dan, that don't really lend themselves to whole-group consumption. However, I might read only the passage that describes the initial impact and then have my science students write stories about the effects.

I am currently reading the sequel, The Dead and the Gone, in which Alex Morales struggles to survive and protect his sisters during the same time period in New York City. I am devouring it. Even though yesterday was hugely busy, I read almost two hundred pages. The third book, This World We Live In, brings Alex and Miranda together.