Sarah is another one of my fellow dystopian lovers and I was so excited when Sarah asked if she could put student quotes in her guest post- what a great way to show the real impact of this genre!
I didn’t know it at the time, but I was first exposed to
dystopian literature when I read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley for
my senior AP English class. I remember
being confused as I read Huxley’s classic, but I tried my best to make sense of
it so I could write my essay. I didn’t
read another dystopian novel until I took Literature of Non-Western Cultures
during my under-grad. The title escapes
me, but my professor organized this class so we were reading and studying
utopias, dystopias and ending with myopia.
Thankfully my professor took more time to explain the differences which
helped my understanding greatly.
I’m bringing
up my past experiences with dystopian literature because besides wishing that
Y.A. had boomed when I was in high school, I wish titles like The Hunger Games, Memento Nora, and Unwind were around
when I was reading those required high school and college titles. I think I would have had a better understanding
of Brave New World if I had already
been exposed to dystopian titles written for teens. Young adult authors and publishers have done
a top-notch job making dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories more accessible
and easy to understand for our teens.
This is an intriguing, discussion-heavy genre that should be explored by
teens, and now it’s easier and more fun than ever. I’ve read quite a few dystopian and
post-apocalyptic titles, so I know that not all of them are “fun,” but my
students love reading them regardless. I
teach mostly freshmen and I’ve noticed that in general they aren’t very
interested in the government. Once I
started reading The Hunger Games aloud
to my freshmen, more and more of my students started asking questions about the
government and whether something like the Hunger Games could actually happen
one day. These two genres in Y.A. are
provoking thoughtful discussions.
When I
blog I focus quite a bit on my students because everything I read is with them
in mind. Granted I get to enjoy some
fabulous novels in the process, but the more important part is connecting my
students with titles. I love exposing
them to new authors, topics, genres, and more. With the recent popularity of dystopian and
post-apocalyptic stories, I’ve been collecting a large variety of titles for my
kids. I’m actually having a hard time
keeping up with all of them, so I’ve asked some of my kids to be student
reviewers for me. These students have
formed a book club of sorts because they’re often swapping books once they’ve
finished. One of my freshmen boys
discovered that he likes dystopian novels, but after reading Enclave by Ann Aguirre, he’s found that he prefers
post-apocalyptic novels. Since this
discovery was made, I’ve been handing him all the titles I have and can find
that fit this genre. I’ve really enjoyed
listening to him recommend titles to his friends in class. Because my students are my focus, I’ve
compiled a list of their favorite dystopian and post-apocalyptic titles.
In no particular order, these are the dystopian and
post-apocalyptic titles borrowed the most often:
A couple student opinions:
“I like The Maze
Runner series the best because it has a mix of adventure and suspense,
and it never goes as you think it will. It
also has a mix of betrayal and love;
it’s a mix of all human emotions into
one.” - Christian, 9th grade
“Enclave by Ann
Aguirre—This book was very good. I
didn’t want to put it down.
This book
drew me in to keep reading because I couldn’t figure out what would happen
next.
This book was also filled with
weird, wild creatures and what the world looks like now.
Also I like this book because it’s full of
new ideas, but it’s not ridiculous.
Ship Breaker is
written by Paolo Bacigalupi. This book
was also very good. I kept getting
in
trouble for reading when I wasn’t supposed to.
This book drew me in because it could really happen. Also, there were weird creatures like
half-men. Ship Breaker was cool because it shows the
fight for survival in a
hard world destroyed by killing all of our resources.” -Anthony, 9th grade
Sarah is a high school English teacher with a passion for both YA literature and connecting it with her students. She fell in love with YA lit the summer of 2006 when she took Young Adult Literature with Dr. Steffel at Central Michigan University. She read about 20 books in six weeks and hasn't stopped since! Sarah can be found on Twitter @yaloveblog or at her blog.
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