The Sword and Laser discussion

I'm at university at the moment, going into my last year doing English Literature, so I'll be completing my dissertation this year, and I'm doing it on expressions and images of maturity in YA dystopian fiction.

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for ANY good books that might fit...I've got quite a list already (The Knife of Never Letting Go- Patrick Ness, The Giver-Lois Lowry, The Shadow Speaker- Nnedi Okorafor for example) but I thought some of you guys might have some good/obscure/interesting ones. :)

Thanks!

I have a friend (who's in her 30's, mind you) who adores YA stuff and her favorite dystopian book is Divergent.

I found this link while I was trying to remember the name of Divergent...it might help you get a few ideas, too.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12...

Have you tried out almost anything by Scott Westerfeld? I highly recommend the Uglies series in particular, as far as YA dystopian goes.

This Alien Shore for a far future society with a corporate monopoly on interstellar travel, and rampant genetic mutations

Phoenix Rising (though probably more post-apocalyptic than dystopian)

You might like The Maze Runner which is a trilogy of books.

I've heard good things about Paolo Bacigalupi's Ship Breaker.

Garth Nix's Shade's Children. Bleak on a very real level. I liked this book, in particular, because I didn't feel like Nix was talking down or dumbing down his ideas for teens.

Oh, and good luck with your reading, research and writing!

Flowers for Algernon

Cherie Priest's Boneshaker. I first saw it marketed as YA, which I thought fit that book, but not as much the following books. There is even a question about it in the questions for Cherie Priest thread. I really liked this book. Also - the videogame Bioshock. It isn't marketed as young adult, but it is a videogame, and I know it was popular with some young adults. There is also a book based on it, but I haven't read it BioShock: Rapture

I enjoyed Enclave by Ann Aguirre

The only one I can think of right now is The Last Book in the Universe I certainly enjoyed it.

Another I'd consider is The House of the Scorpion it definitely deals with identity and growing up in a dangerous dystopia.

Partials by Dan Wells. I have not read it yet, but I've enjoyed his other books.

"Ashes, Ashes" by Jo Treggiari is a good one about young adults having to grow up quickly in a post apocalyptic world

Genesis by Bernard Beckett. Definitely a different take on the genre.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

I'm currently listening to Legend by Marie Lu. It fits the bill. It's also apparently the first in a trilogy, with the other books in the trilogy forthcoming.

The Chrysalids still my favorite and a pure classic YA dystopian novel.
I read it first @25 years ago and I've successfully kept my copy with me through 15 moves. It's one of the first things I pack.

Unlike many deviations portrayed in more recent dystopian novels - the obstacles faced by the characters in this novel were completely relatable to me at the time and continue to be so nearly thirty years later. A recommended read for all.

Aw, man, everyone said most of the books I was going to suggest already.

I really enjoyed The Supernaturalist, although it might be aimed at a younger audience than most YA. I'm not sure (I'm really shitty at figuring out target demographics). The The City of Ember books are decent, but are also not-quite-YA and not-quite-dystopia (the first one definitely is, but the series kind of changes in tone as it goes on).

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

I second Divergent, which I am almost finished listening to, as a good pick and I'll add Glow, centered on teens in a generation ship in space, to the rec list.

I would add both the parable of the talents and the parable of the sower both by octavia e butler. When these originally came out I'm nit certain if they were considered YA or not but the main character is a teen aged girl.

I would also recommend Divergent as well as the second in that series, Insurgent. I've read both.

I second Partials by Dan Wells! It's really great. It deals with a world where 99% of the population is gone so kids have to become adults really early. It's one of my favorite books from the last year or so.

In ninth grade at my high school we read several dystopian novels and short stories, including Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World. I don't know if this is exactly what you are looking for, but those books were very interesting, if not a bit heavy at times!

I would also recommend Ship Breaker and Divergent. I didn't love Divergent as much as most people claim to, but I seem to hold a minority opinion.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a really great YA zombie book. I got way sucked into it, also I second the Shade's Children recommendation.

I third the Divergent trilogy, also the Delirium trilogy is a great one too!

Probs a tad late to the topic, but I highly suggest the Truancy Triolgy(Truancy, Truancy Origins, Truancy City)

I'm also late to this topic. I hope your dissertation is going well/did well. A few more YA Dystopian recommendations to add:

- Unwind by Neal Shusterman
- Blood Red Road by Moira Young
- Genesis by Bernard Beckett

John Christopher's Tripod books.

I would agree with unwind, uglies (and sequels), hunger games, divergent, the forest of hands and teeth (and sequels) black city, blood red road, ship breaker (and sequel).

And across the universe (and sequels).

Maybe The City of Ember. It starts off in a broken society but then moves into a rebuilding society mode.

This is officially the most dangerous thread ever I can devour YA dystopia and I now have about 20 more books on my to read list.

My favorite YA dystopian is "The Girl Who Owned a City" (1975) by O. T. Nelson. You can find it on Wikipedia.

Premise: In the span of perhaps a month, the world goes from "everything is normal" to "everyone on earth who is past puberty is dead from the worst plague in all history." The story begins perhaps a week after the world's children are left alone. The main character, Lisa, and her little brother Todd, are both named after the author's real-life children. They are running out of food in their house and have no way to see past tomorrow.

Eventually, Lisa has to learn how to lead the neighborhood's children into a small society that can cooperate, function, provide for itself, educate itself, and be able to defend itself from the anarchist gangs that other children have formed. Then they must begin to lead the world out of the new dark age.

The author wrote it to convey Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism to a young adult audience.

I want this book to become a movie. It would be one of the most interesting movies made in a long time.