By Rachel Seigel

DYSTOPIAN FICTION FOR TWEENS & TEENS

WHAT IF?

What if the world ran out of fresh

water?

What if you could create the perfect Stepford Teen?

What if all of the ice caps melted?

What if a plague wiped out most of the population?

What if love were a curable disease?

What if the Government chose who you married?

What if the world runs out of oil?

What if we lived in a totalitarian society?

What if we could be harvested for spare parts?

WHAT IS UTOPIA?

Coined by Thomas More in 1516 in his book Utopia

Term is a Greek pun on the word “ou-topos” meaning no place and is translated as “Good Place”

Describes any society governed by an ideal socio-political legal system

Refers to any theoretical or fictional community

WHAT IS DYSTOPIA?

Evolves from the term Utopia, and derives from the ancient Greek meaning “bad place/landscape”

First known use is by John Stewart Mill in a parliamentary speech given in 1868

A dystopia is a flawed Utopia

A RECENT TIMELINE OF DYSTOPIAN FICTION 1993- The Giver by Lois Lowry

1998- Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix (First in the Shadow Children series)

2001-Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick

2002- Feed by M.T. Anderson

2003- City of Ember by Jeanne Du’Prau (First in the Books of Ember series)

2005- The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (First in the Uglies series)

And then came……..

2008 - THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY BY SUZANNE COLLINS

WHY IS THIS GENRE SO POPULAR? Critical Thinking

Appeals to idealism of teens

Mirrors teenage experience

Want to fight for something

Ordinary heroes

Teens have autonomy

Dramatic, action-filled plots

Morally complex

Hopeful

FEATURES OF DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE

SOCIETY:

Degraded into repressive and controlled state

Social class is strictly defined and enforced

Emphasize a pressure to conform

Old ideas are difficult to shed for older generation

SOCIAL

Absence of social groups other than state

Independent religion is absent

Society is cut off from the rest of the world

Repressive control systems

Paranoia is prevalent

POLITICAL

Individual is powerless under Government control

Totalitarian or Authoritarian ruler

View of ruling class/government is pessimistic

Society is a constant state of warfare/violence

ECONOMIC

Mass poverty

State planned and controlled economy

Big Businesses have control

Black Market for banned/rare items

FAMILY

Institution of family exists at service of state

One or both parents are eradicated, helpless, absent

Kids function in adult roles at a young age

ENVIRONMENT

Geography is drastically different

Disaster has devastated large cities

Nature is dangerous and to be avoided

Safety exists inside physical or proverbial wall

Matched by Ally Condie & Delirium by Lauren Oliver

INCARCERON & SAPPHIQUE BY CATHERINE FISHER, THE MAZE RUNNER & THE SCORCH TRIALS BY JAMES DASHNER

THE DECLARATION, THE RESISTANCE, LEGACY BY GEMMA MALLEY, BIRTHMARKED BY CARAGH O’BRIEN

THE WATER WARS BY CAMERON STRACHER, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND BY ALLEGRA GOODMAN, SHIBREAKER BY PAOLO BACIGALUPI

UNWIND BY NEIL SHUSTERMAN & CANDOR BY PAM BACHROZ

EPITAPH ROAD BY DAVID PATENAUDETHE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, THE ASK AND THE ANSWER, MONSTERS OF MEN BY PATRICK NESS

ROT & RUIN BY JONATHAN MABERRY, THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES BY CARRIE RYAN

WITCH & WIZARD, WITCH & WIZARD: THE GIFT BY JAMES PATTERSON

“You want the world to be full of good and evil. But it’s only shades of grey. This world is full of saints who perform unspeakable acts, and monsters who try to do good”

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