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Young Adult Dystopian Novels?

Weyoun Six

Weyoun Six

Lieutenant Commander
Red Shirt
I'm increasingly fascinated by dystopias (and I'm defining "dystopia" quite broadly here, to include post-apocalyptic/post-disaster fiction, etc.) that are written specifically for young adult audiences. I'm interested primarily in Earth-based stories rather than tales of deep space/alien worlds.

Here's the list I'm working my way through now. Does anyone have any recommendations for me? I'd be most grateful for any suggestions you have for additions to this list. Thanks!

The Future Took Us by David Severn (1958)
The Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle (1962-1989) (not dystopias, but some dystopian elements)
The Tripods Series by Samuel Youd (1968-1988)
The Far Side of Evil by Sylvia Engdahl (1971, revised edition 2003)
House of Stairs by William Sleator (1974)
Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien (1975)
The Missing Person's League by Frank Bonham (1976)
I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier (1977)
The Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh (1981)
The Vandal by Ann Schlee (1981)
Futuretrack 5 by Robert Westall (1984)
Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes (1990)
Smart Rats by Thomas Baird (1990)
The Giver Trilogy by Lois Lowry (1993-2004)
The Tomorrow Series (1994-1999) and The Ellie Chronicles (2003-2006) by John Marsden
Into the Forest by Jean Hegland (1996)
The Shadow Children Sequence by Margaret Peterson Haddix (1998-2006)
The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick (2000)
Feed by M.T. Anderson (2002)
The Fire-Us Trilogy by Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher (2002-2003)
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (2002)
The Books of Ember by Jeanne Duprau (2003-2008, ongoing)
The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn (2004)
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (2004)
Sharp North and Blown Away by Patrick Cave (2004-2005)
Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083 by Andrea White (2005)
The Secret Under My Skin by Janet McNaughton (2005)
Stolen Voices by Ellen Dee Davidson (2005)
The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld (2005-2007)
Life As We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer (2006-2008)
Rash by Pete Hautman (2006)
The Declaration by Gemma Malley (2007)
The Silenced by James DeVita (2007)
Bad Faith by Gillian Philip (2008)
The Compound by S.A. Bodeen (2008)
Gone by Michael Grant (2008, sequel pending in 2009)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008, sequel pending in 2009)
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (2008)
The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman (2008)
 
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I would suggest that the Crosstime Traffic novels by Turtledove might fit into this since you have post-atomic war worlds, Roman Empire ruled ones etc all being exploited/explored.
 
I read one in middle school that I would love to find again but can't for the life of me remember the title to it.

It was about a world where all the "adults" die off and the kids are all that is left. One kid, a girl, bands together a group of other kids in, I think it was a school, and tries to survive and fight off the hordes of "bullies" all the while trying to protect her younger brother...

Anyone have an idea what novel this might be?
 
Weyoun, you might try Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series (currently four novels: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras). I haven't read them, but they've had good reviews, and Uglies frequently ends up on the required summer reading lists from the local high schools.
 
Some books I haven't seen mentioned:

If you can find them, Winter of Magic's Return and Tomorrow's Magic by Pamela F. Service are set during a nuclear winter.

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer (the writer of the Artemis Fowl books) is set in a rather bleak future, if I remember correctly.

Also, I can't recommend specific books (don't know her stuff well enough), but I'm sure that Andre Norton has written something that would qualify.
 
Data Holmes said:
I read one in middle school that I would love to find again but can't for the life of me remember the title to it.

It was about a world where all the "adults" die off and the kids are all that is left. One kid, a girl, bands together a group of other kids in, I think it was a school, and tries to survive and fight off the hordes of "bullies" all the while trying to protect her younger brother...

Anyone have an idea what novel this might be?
Click to expand...
Oh! Oh! Would that be The Girl Who Owned A City by O.T. Nelson (1975)? I totally forgot about that one!
 
Weyoun Six said:
Data Holmes said:
I read one in middle school that I would love to find again but can't for the life of me remember the title to it.

It was about a world where all the "adults" die off and the kids are all that is left. One kid, a girl, bands together a group of other kids in, I think it was a school, and tries to survive and fight off the hordes of "bullies" all the while trying to protect her younger brother...

Anyone have an idea what novel this might be?
Click to expand...
Oh! Oh! Would that be The Girl Who Owned A City by O.T. Nelson (1975)? I totally forgot about that one!
Click to expand...

Yes, that is that one. Thank you. I've been trying to figure it out for a few years now. :lol:
 
Thanks! I love that book - I didn't think of it as marketed specifically to the YA market, though.
 
I think the Tripods series was by Christopher.

I read a book years ago-20+, about a couple of kids on the run from society, because they weren't genetically altered to grow less, consuming less supplies, etc on an overcrowded Earth. It would have been a Scholastic book, circa 1975.

Ad Astra and its sequel by Norton. Great books. Main character was Dard Nordis, I think.

You didn't list A Wrinkle In Time!
 
Good point about Lord of the Flies, Davros. Thanks!

DarkProphet, I have Farenheit 451 on my list of adult dystopias. Do you know if it was marketed specifically as YA? Either way, great book.
 
Mistral said:
I think the Tripods series was by Christopher.

I read a book years ago-20+, about a couple of kids on the run from society, because they weren't genetically altered to grow less, consuming less supplies, etc on an overcrowded Earth. It would have been a Scholastic book, circa 1975.

Ad Astra and its sequel by Norton. Great books. Main character was Dard Nordis, I think.

You didn't list A Wrinkle In Time!
Click to expand...

John Christopher was Youd's pseudonym - I should make that clear in the list.

I included A Wrinkle in Time as part of the Time Quintet.

I'm really intrigued about the Scholastic book you describe. I'm going to see if I can't figure out what it is. It sounds very good!

And thanks so much for the heads up re: the Astra books. I'll definitely check them out!
 
Weyoun Six said:
Mistral said:
I think the Tripods series was by Christopher.

I read a book years ago-20+, about a couple of kids on the run from society, because they weren't genetically altered to grow less, consuming less supplies, etc on an overcrowded Earth. It would have been a Scholastic book, circa 1975.

Ad Astra and its sequel by Norton. Great books. Main character was Dard Nordis, I think.

You didn't list A Wrinkle In Time!
Click to expand...

John Christopher was Youd's pseudonym - I should make that clear in the list.

I included A Wrinkle in Time as part of the Time Quintet.

I'm really intrigued about the Scholastic book you describe. I'm going to see if I can't figure out what it is. It sounds very good!

And thanks so much for the heads up re: the Astra books. I'll definitely check them out!
Click to expand...

It might be called Giants! And the Astra books were favs when I was young. You'll like them, I suspect, from your list. I missed seeing the Time Quintet-my bad.

There's a series of 2-3 books at Borders about teens post-apocalypse. In one, they take an old riverboat down the Mississippi(?) I believe. Sorry-I haven't worked there in a couple years and the memories fade....

I believe there is a brand new book out called, hmm, The Counting Game that might fit your list. Kind of a YA version of Stephen King's The Long Walk....

ed.-my bad, you have it-The Hunger Games by Collins

What about Zenda Henderson's stories about The People?
 
Mistral said:
It might be called Giants! And the Astra books were favs when I was young. You'll like them, I suspect, from your list.

What about Zenda Henderson's stories about The People?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the lead on the Scholastic book! I'm looking forward to reading the Astra novels; I see the two have been reissued in one omnibus edition.

I didn't know about the Henderson series. There's another for my "must read" pile! I looked her up, and the books sound very interesting indeed. Thanks!
 
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