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Middle/high school dystopian novel recommendations (lemm.ee)

submitted 4 days ago by bdmayhem@lemm.ee to c/books@lemmy.ml

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I'm working on a dystopian literature class, and I'm looking for one more book to add to the curriculum. The kids are about 13, and somewhat sensitive to more adult topics. That's one of the reasons I've chosen not to assign 1984.

I had thought to assign The Maze Runner, but after reading it, I was underwhelmed, especially as a standalone book.

The other books we're reading are:

The Giver The Hunger Games Lord of the Flies Matched Ender's Game Fahrenheit 451 The Minority Report

Any thoughts? Thanks!

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[–] tonylowe@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Cory Doctorow’s ‘Little Brother’ only has 1 sex scene and it’s a pretty good model for sex positivity, I guess. That aside, it’s definitely near-future dystopia. Not far off the mark from today.

Octavia E. Butler’s ‘Parable of the Sower’ may be a bit above their level, but I could see 13 and 14 year olds devouring it none the less. Hmmm… there might be a steamy sex scene in this one too.

Technically Ender’s Game is a dystopian sci-fi novel. The film omits some insanely important content like a video game that the cadets all use during downtime that explores their psyche.

It’s old, but was my first introduction to dystopian concepts: The Time Machine by HG Wells

Oh, my wife loved Z for Zachariah at that age and reading it as an adult was enjoyable for me. A classic post-nuke young adult book.

[–] Earthling105b@midwest.social 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Little Brother is pretty good!

Parable of the sower does have some pretty graphic violence in it though from what I remember, if 1984 is considered not age appropriate I think that one would not be either.

[–] tonylowe@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 4 days ago

Oh yeah... there is that, lol. It's weird being from America where violence isn't viewed through a puritanical lens, but the human body very much is. I easily forget where the line is drawn with what level of violence is acceptable. The message of Parable stuck with me now more than 20 years more so than any memory of the specific gruesomeness they endure during the travel north. Thanks for reminding!