Pulse, by Patrick Carman

Title: Pulse
Author: Patrick Carman
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Year: 2013
Pages: 371
Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction
Themes: Power, Oppression
Age Range: 7th Grade and Above

Summary:
Faith lives in the no-man's-land outside the walls of the State. The United States, in a desperate bid to conserve resources, has encouraged all people to move into heavily populated States, where people are packed into the finite space but have access to food, medicine, and technology that you can't get on the outside. It seems as though the last stragglers of a dying way of life will eventually all succumb to the lure of the State. But there are some who are different. Some who prefer the freedom of the outside to the relative safety and comfort of the State. When Faith discovers that she has the "pulse", telekinetic abilities that allow her to control matter and fly, she also discovers that under the surface, dark forces are at work to dismantle the State and seize control of the people and resources that reside there. Under the tutelage of her classmate, Dylan, Faith learns to control her powers, and to use them in support of those who would keep the State safe from harm.

Review:
This is the start of a trilogy, one that I have yet to finish. The first book, however, gets a thumbs up from me! The premise is interesting, and as someone who's read a ton of dystopian YA fiction, it felt new and fresh. Faith as a character is relatable, and there's the whole "dark, mysterious" love interest thing going on. I fully expected to find that the State was the enemy, and maybe they will be in the end, but I thought that premise that the State was good and the people opposing the State were bad turned that old "Hunger Games" style trope on its head.

As far as deep, meaningful discussion opportunities go, it's not exactly chock full of them, at least not this first book in the trilogy, but it is action-packed, and has enough intrigue to keep a person interested. I'd say the trilogy is a solid addition to any well-stocked classroom library, though I reserve the right to change my mind if the rest of the books in the series suck.

Little Brother X, Cory Doctorow

Title: Little Brother X

Author: Cory Doctorow
Publisher: Tor Teen
Year: 2008
Pages: 382
Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction
Themes: Terrorism, Freedom, Government
Age Range: 8th-12th Grade

Summary: (from Goodreads)

Marcus aka “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems. 

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days. 

When the DHS finally releases them, his injured best friend Darryl does not come out. The city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: "M1k3y" will take down the DHS himself.

Review:

This novel is action packed, and I think that the characters are ones that many youth could relate to. Unlike some dystopian novels, where the society that we know as completely ceased to exist, the America created in Little Brother is one that feels not so far away. Which is a little terrifying, to be honest. The books reminded me a little bit of The Circle by Dave Eggers. It is really an exploration of the consequences of our increasing reliance on social media, and the myriad of ways that we are connected to the digital world. What kind of information do we share about ourselves every day, and how can that information be used against us?

Perhaps the scariest part for me was the constant surveillance, especially of children, all in the name of "safety". I've seen an awful lot of scary things happen in the name of "safety" already. White families who move out of a diverse neighborhood to a majority white one"for the schools", otherwise known as white flight. Surveillance cameras in our streets. The Patriot Act. The reprehensible immigration ban that is thankfully being blocked at the moment by the courts. It seems completely plausible to me that we are one or two terror attacks away from the kind of Department of Homeland Security crack-down that takes place in this novel. There are great themes to talk about with this book. What should be the balance between security, personal privacy, and freedom of association? Can hacking be considered a form of civil disobedience? Is it OK to break laws you consider unjust? What should the role of government be in policing our communities? All of these questions are relevant to the time, and could help build a bridge for students between the fictional dystopia of Doctorow's America and the complex issues the world must grapple with in the face of terrorist threats.

The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness
Publisher: Walker
Year: 2008
Pages: 479
Genre: Science Fiction
Themes: Adventure, Good vs. Evil
Age Range: 8th through 12th Grade

Summary: from Goodreads

Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

Review: 

This book is the first in a trilogy, and in the interest of full disclosure I will say that once you've read the first one, you are going to need to devour the entire series. It is such an interesting premise-reading about Todd and the men of Prentisstown made me realize just how awful it would be to hear everyone's thoughts, about everything, all the time, without any real ability to control the flow of information. The fact that he stayed sane long enough to run away is sort of amazing. Ness uses this phenomenon, and the gender differences in how it affects men and women on the planet these humans have colonized, as a way to explore some pretty dark ideas about sexism and patriarchy.

The men are definitely the villains in the first book, but as the series progresses it becomes much more sophisticated than that. By the end of the series there's the added perspective of one of the "aliens" (though really, if the humans are the colonizers, aren't they the aliens?), and Ness brings in issues of colonization and oppression of indigenous peoples as well. The story can certainly be read and enjoyed just as an adventure story, one where the forces of good an evil are caught in a life or death struggle for control, but there are deeper connections that can be made. This trilogy would make a good addition to a classroom library at the high school level, or for use in a book club setting. It is engaging enough that even reluctant readers will be drawn in. I am not the kind of person who reads an entire series in order, but this one I did. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Todd and the people of this strange world.

The Death Cure, James Dashner

Title:  The Death Cure
Author: James Dashner
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Year: 2011
Pages: 325
Genre:  Science Fiction, Dystopian
Themes:  Morality, Dystopia
Age Range: 7th Grade and Up

Summary: from Goodreads

It’s the end of the line.

WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.
Will anyone survive? 

What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.
The truth will be terrifying. 

Thomas beat the Maze. He survived the Scorch. He’ll risk anything to save his friends. But the truth might be what ends it all. 

Review:
The final installment of The Maze Runner trilogy has all of the action and excitement that you've come to expect from Dashner's dystopian novels.  You finally get to see what the world outside of the Maze and the Scorch is like, and the picture is not a pretty one.  Cities with uninfected people have become uneasy oases surrounded by hordes of Cranks (those infected with the Flare who have completely lost their sanity), and it is only a matter of time until the virus infiltrates their walls.  Thomas and his friends have no one to trust-they don't always trust each other.  They get connected with a group called The Right Arm, which purports to take down WICKED and end their experimentation, but will they be able to pull it off?  And are their motives as noble as they seem?

I felt like The Death Cure did not have the same level of emotional intensity as the first two books, at least not until the last quarter of the book or so.  There are some questions that are left unanswered, though I assume that at least some of them are explored in the prequel, The Killing Zone. We never get an explanation of how Thomas worked for WICKED before the Maze, nor do we learn very much about the genesis of the plague, though the epilogue answers one major question-how did the virus get out in the first place?  And if you are someone who likes their stories neatly tied up in the end, knowing what happens to all of your favorite characters, you may be frustrated with the conclusion.  But overall I think this trilogy is a fine example of YA dystopian literature, and I think it will especially appeal to readers (mot of who are probably male) who would appreciate the male protagonist and the lack of a real love story.

Fortunately the Milk, by Neil Gaiman

Title:  Fortunately the Milk
Author:  Neil Gaiman
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year:  2013
Pages: 114
Genre:  Fantasy/Science Fiction
Themes:  Time Travel, Imagination
Age Range:  3rd-6th Grade

Summary:  
One day, when Mother has left Father in charge of the children, there is no milk for the cereal.  Father goes off to the market to purchase some, and comes back some hours later with the most fantastical tale of time travel.  Fortunately, the milk helped him get out of some pretty serious scrapes.  He was kidnapped by aliens, forced to walk the plank by pirates, and rescued by a stegosaurus in a hot air balloon.  The children aren't sure what to make of this story-was their dad really abducted by aliens, or is this convoluted story made up just to excuse their father's tardiness?

Review:
Followers of this blog, and my adult book blog Book Addict Reviews, will know that I have a bit of hero worship going on when it comes to Neil Gaiman.  He is one of those people that makes me wish that science had the ability to transport us into another person's mind to live for a day, just to see what makes them tick. Of course, that's what writers use words for, to present their unique perspective and voice, and Gaiman gives us a pretty clear view into his imagination with Fortunately, the Milk.

According to Publisher's Weekly, Gaiman wrote this book as a counterpoint to the father in the book The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish (my review here), in which the father is basically a passive lump to whom things happen, rather than an active participant in the story.  Gaiman wanted to write a story in which the father did the sort of heroic things that fathers wish they could do, with a healthy does of humor thrown in.  The book is quite short, especially when you factor in the illustrations on each page, but Gaiman fits in lots and lots of action.  It is essentially non-stop, with aliens and dinosaurs and pirates and all manner of silliness.  In fact, that silliness highlights one of the things that I love about Gaiman's writing.  How is it possible that the same man who wrote the very dark story Ocean and the End of the Lane could be the man who wrote Fortunately, the Milk?  Because he is mad versatile, that's how!

I would definitely say this book would make an excellent addition to any classroom library, and it could also be used as a read aloud or for guided reading.  There is not a ton of character development, but it is science fiction that does NOT include a superhero, which can be hard to find for this age range.  The time travel creates a narrative structure that is linear, sort of, but could lead to interesting discussions with students about time and the way we perceive it.  And as a mentor text for writing it could work great-students could choose an errand or chore they were supposed to do, and come up with a fantastical story for how or why it did or did not get accomplished.

Teacher Resources
Harper Collins Discussion Guide
Brightbulb STEM Activities for Fortunately, the Milk

Mr. Wuffles, David Wiesner

Title:  Mr. Wuffles
Author:  David Wiesner
Publisher:  Clarion Books
Year:  2013
Pages:  32
Format:  Wordless Picture Book
Genre:  Science Fiction
Themes:  Aliens, Pets
Age Range:  1st-5th Grade

Summary: from Goodreads

In a near wordless masterpiece that could only have been devised by David Wiesner, a cat named Mr. Wuffles doesn't care about toy mice or toy goldfish. He’s much more interested in playing with a little spaceship full of actual aliens—but the ship wasn't designed for this kind of rough treatment. Between motion sickness and damaged equipment, the aliens are in deep trouble. When the space visitors dodge the cat and take shelter behind the radiator to repair the damage, they make a host of insect friends. The result? A humorous exploration of cooperation between aliens and insects, and of the universal nature of communication involving symbols, “cave” paintings, and gestures of friendship

Review:
Wiesner's book, Mr. Wuffles, was a 2013 Caldecott Award honor book.  The Caldecott Award is giving annually to the best picture book by the American Library Association.  Wiesner's book certainly belongs in the category of beautifully illustrated picture books.  His illustrations are sharp and engaging, with vivid colors and aggressive shading that provide depth and realism to an otherwise obviously fantastical story.  But what is most wonderful about this book is the juxtaposition of the adorable cat and the tiny aliens.  Wiesner cleverly takes the natural inclinations of a cat to bat around small objects, and uses it as a springboard for the trials and tribulations of a small group of ant-sized aliens.

This book is almost wordless, if you only consider Earth languages.  In reality, the aliens have a rich language that is scattered throughout the book, made up of symbols that are meaningless when viewed alone, but with the context of the wonderful illustrations it is pretty obvious what kind of things the aliens are probably saying.  The structure of the book is comic-book like, with multiple panels on most pages, and speech bubbles in place of traditional paragraphing.  The book could be used with younger students to emphasize the importance of using illustrations to look for comprehension clues.  Older students could be asked to "translate" the alien dialogue into English, inferring what the aliens are saying based on the context of the story and the illustrations, and essentially writing the text for Wiesner's illustrations.  Or, you can just put the book out for your students to enjoy, because even without words it is an engaging read.

Teacher Resources:
HMH Books Discussion Guide
TeachingBooks.Net Guide

When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead

Title:  When You Reach Me

Author:  Rebecca Stead
Publisher:  Wendy Lamb Books
Year: 2009
Pages:  199
Genre:  Realistic Science Fiction (?)
Themes:  Friendship, Family, Space Travel
Age Range:  4th-8th Grade

Summary: from Goodreads

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner.
But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper: 
I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.
The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late.

Review:
When You Reach Me is a hard book to describe.  It's genre defying, since for most of the book you think it is a realistic fiction story, only to discover that in Miranda's world, time travel is a thing.  I enjoyed the book, but it is written in such a way that you feel a bit unsettled while you are reading it.  Of course, this tone is entirely appropriate for the major plot point, which is these scary notes that Miranda keeps finding.   But that sense of menace is so tightly wrapped up with the day-to-day issues that Miranda is dealing with that it gives even her most benign interactions with people a weight that might not be there otherwise.  After all, who knows which "friend" it is whose life needs to be saved?

Aside from the mystery of the notes, this is mostly a story about friendships.  Miranda and her best friend are drifting apart, and Miranda attributes it to her witnessing Sal getting punched on the way home from school.  She tries to give him some space, but as usually happens in books and movies, if she had just talked to him she would have figured out a lot sooner that all was not as it appeared.  Her new friendships bring her her first girl friend, and her first crush.  Miranda tries to negotiate the choppy waters of pre-adolescence with as much grace as she can muster, but how can she concentrate on her friends when this threat is hanging over their heads?

Understanding this book is a lot easier if you have read A Wrinkle in Time, the classic children's science fiction novel by Madeleine L'Engel.  It is Miranda's favorite book, and she references it in an off-hand way that would make it hard for someone who hasn't read it to fully appreciate the parallels be tween this story and that one.  And the book reads sort of brainy...I don't know a better way to describe it, but it feels cerebral.  Not in an offputting, impersonal way, but the bits about time travel definitely stretch a person's thinking.  Overall I think this is a solid choice for a classroom library, and I could see it used in guided reading with the right group of kids, maybe as a companion to A Wrinkle in Time.

UnSouled, Neal Shusterman

Title:  UnSouled
Author:  Neal Shusterman
Publisher:  Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Year:  2013
Pages:  403
Genre:  Dystopian, Science Fiction
Themes:  Society, Freedom, Social Justice
Age Range:  8th Grade and Up

Summary:  
The third installment in the Unwind dystology continues the story of Connor, Lev, Risa, and Cam, the rewound boy.  Connor and Lev are once again on the run from Proactive Citizenry, the organization that is protecting the process of unwinding through propaganda and manipulation of the government.  Cam, one of Proactive Citizenry's greatest achievements, is on the run too.  Tired of being used by the organization for their own purposes, Cam decides to bring down the organization that created him to show Risa how he really feels about her.  Connor and Lev know that in order to get the answers they are looking for, and to stop unwinding forever, they need to track down a woman that Proactive Citizenry has tried to erase from history.  But will she be able to help them save the hundreds of thousands of teens who are in danger of being unwound?

Review:
UnSouled reads like what it is-a middle novel in a longer arc, where lots of things happen but very few things are resolved.   There are some interesting new developments, including a further exploration of the "storkers" and their leader, as well as the backstory to the unwinding process itself.  Something else that is the same-the sense of horror that the reader feels when the cruelty and inhumanity towards those who are destined to be unwound rears its ugly head.  What makes this book series all the more terrifying is how realistic some of the policies and propaganda that Proactive Citizenry puts out feels, given that this is a work of dystopian science fiction.  We may not yet have the ability to take apart people and use all of their tissue for medical procedure, but anyone who follows the way that certain groups within our society dehumanize other groups (the poor, immigrants, prisoners) can't help but notice some parallels between their world and ours.  I can't really see a future where we allow minors to be given over for unwinding, but there are certainly groups of "disposable" people in our world, people that no one makes a fuss over when they are the victims of violence-state sanctioned or otherwise.

I know that UnDivided, the last book in the series, is being finished practically as we speak.  I am definitely ready to see how the disparate threads of the narrative are wound together (pun intended) to resolve the story of freedom, equality, and ultimate humanity that Shusterman has created.

Legend, Marie Lu

Title:  Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher:  Putnam Juvenile
Year: 2011
Pages:  320
Genre:  Dytopian Science Fiction
Themes:  Oppression, Social Justice
Age Range:  8th Grade and Up

Summary:  from Goodreads

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets

Review:
I've read a lot of young adult dystopian fiction in the last couple of years, and like most genre literature it gets to be repetitive in nature.  Repetitive in theme, elements, character archetype.   But what I've come to realize over the years is that good fantasy and science fiction writers are like great chefs.  Two chefs can take the same basic ingredients and make equally satisfying variations on a similar theme.

I would call Lu an adequate chef.  I think that she does a decent job with the basic elements of dystopian fiction-government control of the population through lies and manipulation, characters who fight against that control, manufactured wars, etc...Having June and Day come from such different worlds allowed Lu to invite the reader into the worlds of both the powerful and powerless in the Republic, and proved important to the plot later on when June was able to use her access to help them escape from danger.  It is not a cookie cutter novel, much like the Twilight clones that came out during its heyday.  There are some decent discussion topics that could be developed from the plot, and the book definitely has some merit in comparing and contrasting it to other titles in this genre.  It is the start of a series, so if you are looking to hook a reluctant reader this book provides opportunities for further reading (Prodigy and Champion are the next two in the series).  Definitely a good choice for a classroom library.

The Scorch Trial, James Dashner

Title:  The Scorch Trials
Author:  James Dashner
Publisher:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Year:  2010
Pages:  360
Genre:  Dystopian Science Fiction
Themes:  Survival
Age Range:  6th Grade and Up

Summary:  (from Goodreads)

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to...

 Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Review:
The second book in this series reads and feels very similar to the first.  Thomas and the other Gladers soon discover that getting out of the Maze was only the first step in survival.  WICKED, the shadowy organization that set up the trials, is not done with them yet.  And if the first book was violent, the second takes that violence up a notch.  Violent lightning storms literally blow people's limbs off, deranged sufferers of the Flare sound a lot like the walkers from The Walking Dead, and we once again have hideous monsters created by WICKED to force the young people to fight or die.  While it all seems very sinister, there are constant reminders throughout the book that the trials are supposed to be a good thing; that they are weeding out the weakest to find the future leaders to save the planet.  But no pressure or anything...

As an adult reader I found the increase in tension and intensity in the plot enjoyable, but it may be too much for readers on the bottom end of the readability band for this book.  However, it does bring up all od the same rich topics for discussion as most other high-quality dystopian fiction.  Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?  What responsibility does each of us carry for our fellow humanity?  Is it acceptable to subject people to violence-physical or psychological-in the service of the greater good?  I think this series would make a good choice for a book club discussions in a school or library setting, especially in middle school or early in high school.

The Always War, by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Title:  The Always War
Author:  Margaret Peterson Haddix
Publisher:  Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Year:  2011
Pages:  256
Genre:  Dystopian Science Fiction
Themes:  War, Fear, Society
Age Range:  4th-8th Grade

Summary:  
Fifteen year old Tess has always lived in a world of war.  The war that her country is fighting has been going on for over 75 years, and there appears to be no end in sight.  The war has led to shortages of everything, and so many decades of living in a constant state of deprivation has led the people to be depressed and hopeless.  The only bright spot is the occasional ceremony honoring a citizen of their community as a war hero.  But the ceremony for Tess' childhood friend Gideon does not go as planned.  When they attempt to give Gideon his medal, he freaks out, insisting that what he did does not deserve anything but scorn.  Soon, Gideon disappears, and the once bright future that awaited him is replaced with constant surveillance by the government for his "mental" problems.  Tess is sure that something else is going on, and when he escapes into the night, she follows.  Soon she finds herself on a plane, flying into enemy territory.  Gideon is looking for redemption, and the only way he can see to get it is to admit his wrongdoing to the very people he hurt-the enemy.  But what Tess, Gideon, and a young stowaway named Dek discover when they reach enemy territory calls into question everything they thought they knew about the 75 year long war.

Review:
As usual Haddix does an excellent job creating a dystopian society.  Like in her Shadow Children series, there is a sense of desperation and despair that just cries out for someone to do something to make a change.  The Always War also has elements of Ender's Game in it, in that the people "fighting" the war are doing it remotely, without having to see the results of the bombs they drop.  Unlike Ender's Game, however, the young "pilots" in this war know that they are fighting a real enemy-but are they?  Haddix also threw in a little bit of "War Games", that classic Matthew Broderick movie of the 80s, by creating a sentient computer that calculates the odds of winning the war.

For the first 80% of the book I was sure that this was the beginning of another series.  The story moved along at a decent clip, but there were still so many things that needed to be resolved that I was sure that there were a couple more books in the works.  Then, in the last 25 pages or so of the book, it appears that everything gets resolved very quickly-and not terribly satisfactorily, if truth be told.  After spending so many pages describing the wartime society that Tess lived in, and then describing in great detail the journey that the young people took, the resolution seemed to happen in a flash.  The big reveal about the war was not a surprise, but once it was done the war ended and the people accepted it in a flash, something that just did not feel very realistic.  It might seem strange to use that word to describe a story about a supercomputer that pretends to fight a war so that humanity doesn't annihilate itself, but until the very end I was totally caught up in my own suspension of disbelief.

That said, there are a lot of good things that can be pulled from the story for discussion.  Turns out the war was about water-that is a very timely topic.  Also, the way that citizens were encouraged to sacrifice their joy and hope for the war effort is also something that has parallels in both our recent and not-so-recent past.  If you are a Haddix fan, then this is a book that you should read, just for the sake of being able to put it in the context of her other work.  If you've never read Haddix before, I suggest you start with Running Out of Time, or Among the Hidden, or Found before trying this one.

Spaceheadz by John Scieszka

Title:  Spaceheadz

Author:  John Scieszka
Publisher:  Simon and Schuster for Young Readers
Year:  2010
Pages:  163
Genre:  Science Fiction
Themes:  Saving the World
Age Range:  3rd-5th Grade

Summary:  (from Goodreads)

Michael K. just started fifth grade at a new school. As if that wasn't hard enough, the kids he seems to have made friends with apparently aren't kids at all. They are aliens. Real aliens who have invaded our planet in the form of school children and a hamster. They have a mission to complete: to convince 3,140,001 kids to BE SPHDZ.
But with a hamster as their leader, "kids" who talk like walking advertisements, and Michael K as their first convert, will the SPHDZ be able to keep their cover and pull off their assignment?

Review:
I don't get this book.  It is silly and zany and a little ADHD.  An awful lot of the action seemed designed to allow Scieszka to tell as many puns and goofy jokes as possible.  That said, I can completely understand why kids, especially 10 year old boys, probably like it.  The whole book reads like a cartoon, complete with all of the silliness and mayhem you might expect from the likes of Spongebob or Phineas and Ferb.

To be sure, there is very little literary content in this book, making it pretty inappropriate for use during whole group instruction or guided reading.  However, as a high interest book to have in your library for independent reading, it is great.  It's a good choice to offer an intermediate reluctant reader, especially if they are interested aliens taking over the world.

 

Insurgent, by Veronica Roth

Title:  Insurgent
Author:  Veronica Roth
Publisher:  Harper Teen
Year:  2012
Pages:  525
Genre:  Dystopian Science Fiction
Themes:  Family, Survival, Oppression, Identity
Age Range:  8th Grade and Above

Summary:
Roth has created a fictional Chicago in ruins, cut off from the rest of the world by a high fence.  The lake and river have dried up, and the people who live within the city must get their food from farms on the outskirts of town.  Society has been divided into five factions:  Amity, the peaceful food growers; Erudite, the ultra-intelligent innovators; Candor, whose purpose is to always find and tell the truth; Abnegation, the self-less leaders of the community; and Dauntless, the fearless peace-keepers and informal police force.

Insurgent is the second book in the Divergent series.  It follows Tris Prior, former Abengation, and her love interest and fellow Dauntless fighter, Tobias, in the aftermath of the battle between Erudite and Abnegation for control of the city.  Tris and her friends are on the run from the Erudite leaders and the Dauntless traitors who have joined them.  As the old order breaks down, Tris and her fellow divergent are targeted by the Erudite.  They find temporary safety with Candor, but everyone knows that the current situation can't stand.  When Tris find out that the Erudite attack was a cover for the theft of valuable information from Abnegation, she sets her sights on discovering the information and bringing down Erudite.

Review:
As I wrote when I reviewed Divergent last year, this series is an anomaly for me, in that I am completely engrossed in the fictional world Roth has created, even though I don't really like the protagonist that much.  Tris is a complicated character, for sure, but her aggressive nature and her instincts to fight first and ask questions later is pretty antithetical to my worldview.  This book actually helped me like her a bit better, though.  She becomes a much more sympathetic character once she is loaded down by guilt over the acts of violence she committed in the first book.  Sad, but true...I liked her better when she was suffering.

Roth's fictional society and the rules under which they live provide rich fodder for discussion about how society is organized, and about governmental power.  Each of the factions provides the basis for a discussion about the relative merit of each aspect of humanity in society.  And Tris's journey through grief and guilt can lead to discussions of friendship, family, and being true to yourself within a crazy world.  Or you can just read it for the pleasure of reading a fast-paced story filled with action and adventure.  Either way, I recommend this series to anyone who loves science fiction generally, and dystopian fiction specifically.

UnWholly, by Neal Shusterman

Title:  UnWholly

Author:  Neal Shusterman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster for Young Readers
Year:  2012
Pages:  416
Themes:  Social Justice, Morality, Survival, Identity
Age Range:  8th grade and Above

Summary:  from Goodreads

Thanks to Connor, Lev, and Risa—and their high-profile revolt at Happy Jack Harvest Camp—people can no longer turn a blind eye to unwinding. Ridding society of troublesome teens while simltaneously providing much-needed tissues for transplant might be convenient, but its morality has finally been brought into question. However, unwinding has become big business, and there are powerful political and corporate interests that want to see it not only continue, but also expand to the unwinding of prisoners and the impoverished.

Cam is a product of unwinding; made entirely out of the parts of other unwinds, he is a teen who does not technically exist. A futuristic Frankenstein, Cam struggles with a search for identity and meaning and wonders if a rewound being can have a soul. And when the actions of a sadistic bounty hunter cause Cam’s fate to become inextricably bound with the fates of Connor, Risa, and Lev, he’ll have to question humanity itself.

Review:
If you read Unwind, you know that Shusterman has created an alternate history for America that includes a violent war between pro-choice and pro-life forces that led to the Unwind Accords-abortion is illegal when the child is a fetus, but when the child turns 13 parents can decide to retroactively abort their child through a process called unwinding, and all of the teens organs and tissue will be donated.

When discussing UnWholly, Shusterman said that he never intended for Unwind to become a trilogy, but he just couldn't let the story go.  This novel continues the themes introduced in the first book.  At its most basic level, the unwind culture is about what defines being human.  Despite being set in a fictional future, Shusterman draws on the current debate about the power of corporations, both in our government and in society at large, as well as the debate about privatizing education (which in itself is at least partly also about corporate power).  The addition of Cam as a completely made up "person" brings a new level to the discussion of the morality of unwinding.  It's hard to argue that people's lives are saved by the constant flow of "donated" organs and tissue, but just because technology allows us to create new life from old, does that mean we should?  And if we do, then can there be such a thing as a "soul" as religious people define it, as coming from the divine?  This book would make a great choice for a book club discussion for teens (or grown-ups who love books for teens...you know who you are!).

The Clone Codes, by The McKissacks

Title:  The Clone Codes
Author:  The McKissacks (Patricia, Fred, Pat)
Publisher:  Scholastic
Year:  2012
Pages:  192
Genre:  Science Fiction, Dystopian
Themes:  Freedom, Social Justice, Slavery
Age Range:  5th-8th Grade


Summary:  from Goodreads
In the year 2170 an underground abolitionist movement fights for the freedom of cyborgs and clones, who are treated no better than slaves


The Cyborg Wars are over and Earth has peacefully prospered for more than one hundred years. Yet sometimes history must repeat itself until humanity learns from its mistakes. In the year 2170, despite technological and political advances, cyborgs and clones are treated no better than slaves, and an underground abolitionist movement is fighting for freedom. Thirteen-year-old Leanna's entire life is thrown into chaos when The World Federation of Nations discovers her mom is part of the radical Liberty Bell Movement.


Review:  
The Clone Codes is an interesting look at the concept of slavery in an updated setting.  We teach a lot about slavery and the Civil war in American schools, but I suspect that the farther we get from that event, and from the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, the less accessible the information about them becomes to the students of today.  We are no longer teaching about something that happened in their parents' active memory-we are becoming a generation removed from the marches and sit-ins and boycotts.  Using The Clone Codes in cooperation with a unit on slavery or the Civil Rights Movement could go a long way towards helping the "tween" set gain a clearer picture of the issues involved.


The book itself is well, if sparsely, written.  The McKissacks apparently took their writing teachers' lessons about clarity and brevity to heart.  But that makes it an easy read for readers as young as fifth grade, and maybe even skilled fourth grade readers could get something from the story.  There are a few things thrown in that would require some advance preparation or explanation-the Patriot Act, the workings of the Supreme Court-but nothing that can't be easily managed in a classroom setting.  And the book is part of a series, which means that their may be reluctant readers who get hooked by the book in class, and then go on to read the remainder of the story.  The second and third books in the series are already out, called The Clone Wars #2: Cyborg and The Clone Wars #3: Visitor respectively. I would say these are a good addition to a middle school classroom library, and while the main character is female I feel like the story itself would be just as appealing to younger male readers, even the reluctant ones.

Cosmic, by Frank Cotrell Boyce

Title:  Cosmic
Author:  Frank Cotrell Boyce
Publisher:  Walden Pond Press
Year: 2008
Pages:  336
Genre:  Science Fiction
Themes:  Family, Growing Up
Age Range:  4th-8th grade

Summary:  (from Goodreads)
Liam is too big for his boots. And his football strip. And his school blazer. But being super-sized height-wise has its advantages: he's the only eleven-year-old to ever ride the G-force defying Cosmic rollercoaster - or be offered the chance to drive a Porsche. Long-legged Liam makes a giant leap for boy-kind by competing with a group of adults for the chance to go into space. Is Liam the best boy for the job? Sometimes being big isn't all about being a grown-up.


Review: 
 That summary doesn't really do the plot justice, but I can understand why it's written the way it is. The plot for this book is convoluted and completely unbelievable-except it's not.  Somehow Boyce manages to make the story about an extremely mature looking 12 year old who fakes his way into a top secret space mission by pretending to be someone's dad feel real.  But I suspect that the authenticity that I felt while reading the book had less to do with the plot and more to do with the emotions that Liam brings out in the reader.


Liam is awkward and brilliant and lacks all common sense-much like almost any other tween.  He desperately wants to fit in, but has mostly given up on that due to his extreme height and premature facial hair.  The one place he feels accepted is in the online community of World of Warcraft.  But when he hears about a special contest for dads and their kids to ride the most amazing ride ever, The Rocket, Liam knows he has to find a way to win.  And when he finds out The Rocket is, well, a rocket, going to space, instead of running for the hills like most sensible chaps, he fights for the right to ride.

Liam's character perfectly demonstrates the stage of life that comes between childhood and the teen years.  He feels left-out by his peers, misunderstood by his parents, restless for adventure...the tween age reminds me of how a reptile must feel before it sheds its skin.  Itchy and twitchy and impatient for the next stage of life to begin.  Before Liam can truly understand the importance of his family and his own self-worth, he has to scrape away all of that immaturity and try to see the world for what it really is.  At least the view is better from space!

Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffery

Title: Dragonflight
Author:  Anne McCaffrey
Publisher:  Del Ray
Year:  1968
Pages: 320
Genre:  Fantasy/Science Fiction
Themes:  Survival, Self-Determination
Age Range:  8th Grade and Up

Summary: (from Goodreads)
To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise—and take back her stolen birthright. 

But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa’s world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . .


Review:
The Dragonriders of Pern books were some of the first adult fantasy novels I read.  I had already been through the Narnia books, as well as Lloyd Alexander and Susan Cooper.  While I certainly had a strong desire to find my own magic wardrobe, none of those other series made me long to be part of a fictional world the way McCaffrey's books did.  To experience the intense psychic bond between dragon and rider, to fly in battle against the devastating Thread, to travel through space and time in an instant-these were things that so greatly appealed to me that I felt it as a physical force when I read these books.  


I am not alone in my worship of the dragonkind as imagined in these books.  Anne McCaffrey, who died earlier this year, had a house full of dragons, many of them  given to her by her adoring fans.  People who, like me, wished they could experience the magic of dragonflight.  McCaffrey's books are for fantasy lovers, but also for lovers of science fiction, because as the series went on and we learned more about the origins of the dragons, we discover that in fact science is at the core of what these books.  McCaffrey merges science fiction with fantasy elements in a way I have not read since.  


From a teacher perspective, these books are likely not something to use as a whole group or small group reading assignment.  But they are certainly books worthy of inclusion in your classroom library.  They may provide a gateway to reading for kids who are looking for a fantastic world to escape to.  And if it affects them anything like it affected me, it will lead them to authors like Tolkien and Asimov and Heinlein and the many fantastical worlds they created.

Boom, by Mark Haddon

Title:  Boom
Author:  Mark Haddon
Publisher:  David Fickling Books
Year: 2009
Pages: 208
Genre:  Science Fiction
Themes:  Friendship, Adventure
Age Range:  4th-7th Grade

Summary:  from Goodreads
From the moment that Jim and his best friend, Charlie, bug the staff room and overhear two of their teachers speaking to each other in a secret language, they know there's an adventure on its way. 

But what does "spudvetch" actually mean, and why do Mr. Kidd's eyes flicker with fluorescent blue light when Charlie says it to him? Perhaps Kidd and Pearce are bank robbers talking in code. Perhaps they're spies. Perhaps they are aliens. Whatever it is, Jimbo and Charlie are determined to find out. 

There really is an adventure on its way. A nuclear-powered, one-hundred-ton adventure with reclining seats and a buffet car. And as it gathers speed and begins to spin out of control, it can only end one way . . . with a BOOM!


Review:  

This middle grade book, originally published under a different title in 1992, is a fun, fast-paced romp full of dry humor and characters that any middle grade child could relate to.  Jimbo is your average boy-suffering through school, hating his big sister and her greaseball boyfriend, worrying about his unemployed dad, and hanging with his best friend Charlie.  Once they over hear that conversation in the teacher's room, his life becomes mystery! intrigue! aliens!  Once the action starts, it doesn't stop...

This novel is a decent introduction go middle grade readers to the genre of science fiction.  It is a quick, easy read with an easily understood plot.  In fact, it is maybe a little too easy.  Let's just say that the book is long on action and short on backstory.  It is fairly simplistic, but for middle grade readers I suppose that is not necessarily a bad thing.    The idea of an alien race that wants to repopulate their world with sci fi fans is pretty amusing, especially when Haddon starts throwing out Doctor Who references, which kids might not get but some adults certainly will.  All in all, I think this is a great book to add to your classroom library.

Unwind, by Neal Shusterman

Title:  Unwind
Author:  Neal Shusterman
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Year:  2007
Pages:  352
Genre:  Science Fiction, Dystpoian
Themes:  Reproductive Rights, Ethics, Morality, Survival, Identity
Age Levels:  7th-10th Grade


Summary:

Set in the future, the second civil war is fought over abortion. To end the war, a compromise is reached that ends the practice of abortion but creates an alternative called "unwinding." Between the ages of 13 and 17, parents or guardians can choose to have their children unwound, which involves having every part of their bodies harvested to be "donated" to another person so, technically, they don't really die. The complex and compelling plot follows three teens whose stories intertwine when they escape while on their way to the harvest camps. Fifteen-year-old Connor's parents can no longer control him. Lev, a tithe, was raised by religious parents for the sole purpose of being unwound. Risa, a ward of the state, is a victim of shrinking budgets since she is not a talented enough musician to be kept alive. (From School Library Journal)

Review:
My first thought upon finishing this book (in practically one sitting, I might add) was "Holy crap!".  Not the most literary of sentiments, I realize, but I was so blown away by this story that "Holy crap" was as articulate as I could get.

When  this book was first recommended to me by a close friend, I was a little bit concerned about the subject matter.  Not that I consider myself squeamish, nor and I averse to a good debate over something I feel strongly about, like a woman's right to choose-I was more afraid that the book would come off as preachy, which is something I find pretty abhorrent in a book (though less so when the author's preachiness agrees with me!).  I was assured by my (many) friends who had read Unwind that was not the case, and they were 100% right (I can hear them all saying, "Of course we were, stupid!"-well, maybe without the stupid part!)  In fact, after reading the entire book I'm not sure where Shusterman himself would come down on the subject of reproductive rights-but I do know how he feels about respecting and protecting  the children already here.

Shusterman's characters are well-drawn, and sympathetic while still being flawed, each in their own way.  Connor, the character who sets the rest of the events in motion, is a perfect example of a good kid gone bad through lack of impulse control.  I see two or three of those go through my classroom every year.  Risa is actually the most functional of the three youth, which is ironic given the fact that she spent her entire life in a state youth home with no family.  Lev is the one that got to me the most-a boy raised from birth to believe that he was destined to honor God by allowing himself to be "tithed" to the church by being unwound.  Let's see, young men raised to believe that it is an honor to die for their religious beliefs-sound familiar to anyone?

Obviously the whole concept of unwinding could lead to some pretty intense discussion of morality, ethics, and the existence and/or nature of the soul.  But there are points all along the way to take that discussion into different directions.  What about the doctors?  Don't they take and oath to do no harm?  What happens to the parents?  What kind of belief about the sanctity of life does unwinding lead to in the society?  Do people seem to value life more or less as a result of storking and unwinding?  Should people be allowed to pay for body parts?  Should scientists do something, like the neurobonding in the book, just because they can, or is there a higher ethical standard to meet.  This book has a ton of different ways you could go.

Teacher Resources:
Simon and Schuster Reading Guide
Teachervision Reading Group Guide
 eNotes Study Guide

Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan

Title:  Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author:  Carrie Ryan
Publisher:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Year:  2009
Pages:  320
Genre:  Dystopian Science Fiction
Themes:  Survival, First Love
Age Levels:  7th through 12th Grade


Summary:
Mary knows little about the past and why the world now contains two types of people: those in her village and the undead outside the fence, who prey upon the flesh of the living. The Sisters protect their village and provide for the continuance of the human race. After her mother is bitten and joins the Unconsecrated, Mary is sent to the Sisters to be prepared for marriage to her friend Harry. But then the fences are breached and the life she has known is gone forever. Mary; Harry; Travis, whom Mary loves but who is betrothed to her best friend; her brother and his wife; and an orphaned boy set out into the unknown to search for safety, answers to their questions, and a reason to go on living.
(From School Library Journal)

Review:
If you liked M. Night Shyamalan's movie The Village, and you like zombies, then you will probably like this book.  While I enjoyed this book, I'm not sure that I would say that it is one of the best examples of dystopian young adult literature that I've read.  There were moments when it had similar suspense to Hunger Games, but without the emotional impact.  It had elements of the drudgery of The Road, but without the masterful use of language.  All in all, I think that this book (and the ones that follow) would be best used as part of a larger unit on dystopian literature, perhaps as a choice book for students to read after studying Hunger Games or Life as We Knew It.