Dystopian
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Mrs. Manganello’s
In a dystopian world, the plot is scary because it is clearly POSSIBLE based on current events. Some of the books featured look at:
But, that is just the beginning...
In the year 2085, many luxuries are prohibited. Chocolate and coffee are banned; paper and water are strictly rationed. The orphaned eldest daughter of a chocolate mafia don, sixteen-year-old Anya Balanchine has earned the respect of many in her powerful extended family, but when the family longs for a leader of her father's caliber Anya's future is a question. A complicated path, Anya must choose between her own happiness and her family responsibilities, fortunately the lessons of her father and her strong moral center combine to ensure her future. The first of a series, readers will look forward to Gabrielle Zevin's next volume.
Marcus knows his way around the cyberworld. He has mastered slipping out of school to uncover the latest clue in the online world of Harajuku Fun Madness and that’s just what Marcus and his friends are doing the day that the Bay Bridge is destroyed in a terrorist attack. Rounded up and brutally interrogated in the aftermath, Marcus decides that the Department of Homeland Security has become an oppressor who must be stopped. If you are interested in computers, hacking, or the cyberworld Marcus’ adventure in a dystopian America might be a perfect fit for you.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter is reimagined in a not so distant future. Hannah Payne, recently released from prison for the murder of her unborn child, has only served a portion of her punishment. As a convicted murderer, Hannah has been chromed red, her skin color altered to reflect her conviction.
While technology may have changed in the future world Hannah inhabits, the judgement she faces for alleged crime has not.
In Tucker Pierce’s view Pemberwick Island, Maine is home. Transplanted to the island after his father was laid off, Tucker has found a relaxed happiness that seems to come naturally with island life. That begins to change when the star of the high school football team drops dead. Could the mysterious death by linked to a stranger who pushes Ruby, a red powder guaranteed to up your peak sports performance? Ruby might be a mystery, but when a branch of the Navy known by the code name SYLO invades the island under quarantine orders from the federal government Tucker realizes that there are more unknowns than he imagined. Are his parents involved? Does it all stem from Ruby? Can he find a way to escape or will be become a prisoner of SYLO? Find out in this first installment of D.J. MacHale’s new trilogy.
At sixteen it is normal to feel the world is shifting and changing, but when a meteor impacts the moon shifting its orbit and causing massive destruction worldwide, Miranda’s world becomes far more complicated. Written as a daily journal, this story details the aftermath of the collision, outlining the changes she finds in herself, her family, and her world. Throughout widespread volcanic darkness, famine, and disease, Miranda’s voice matures. Warning – This book may lead you to inspect your emergency preparedness kits!
A companion novel, Pfeffer reexamines the post-apocalyptic world she first introduced us to in Life As We Knew It, but this time she chooses an urban perspective through the eyes of Alex Morales, a seventeen year old honor student and observant Catholic responsible for the care of his two younger sisters. Can Alex’s faith and street smarts combine to lead his family to safety? Another book that, although optimistic in tone, forces its readers to wonder about the future of the Morales family and of the planet as a whole.
In a shadowy future, real life has become less important than virtual life to many teens, including Michael who spends most of his free time in the VirtNet with his online friends. Michael is surprised when he is approached by VNS, VirtNet Security, and given an important and dangerous mission to find the cyber terrorist known as Kaine. Kaine has altered the safety of the game and all players are at risk, but Michael may have as much to fear from VNS if he fails.
For Wade Watts reality is a lonely and dangerous existence. Set in 2044, the society Wade knows has disintegrated as most Americans have abandoned reality for the virtual world of OASIS. Like many, Wade spends his days in a quest to solve a puzzle created by the dying techno-genius who created OASIS. As Wade begins to solve the layered riddle, he finds that danger can find him in reality and the alleged peace of the OASIS. This novel is filled with early gaming and 1980s cultural references which prove just as enjoyable as Cline’s fast moving plot. I loved it!
In Eden, Rowan can’t exist. As a second child, she is hidden by her family as she will be executed or worse if she is discovered. Rowan revels in her twin brother’s descriptions of school, friends, and what happens outside the walls of their house, but when she finds herself outside and alone will her mental toughness be enough to keep her safe? Can she find a way to become a legitimate member of Eden’s society and maybe force others to see the value in the second children who hide underground?
Shy has just landed a summer job on a luxury cruise ship that will definitely help support his family. His first voyage doesn’t go as planned when an earthquake rocks California sending a deadly tsunami into the Pacific. This action-packed story tells the story of what happens when society stops functioning in the wake of a disaster that might not have been a random act.
Titus lives in a future world where games, entertainment, news, and other information come to you via your feed, a network wired directly into your brain. When a hacker destroys his connection and Titus is left alone with his thoughts for the first time ever, will he survive? Find out in this National Book Award finalist that describes a future world not so different from our own.
In the wake of global warming, fourteen-year-old Nailer works as a ship breaker, harvesting materials from abandoned shipping vessels along the Gulf coast. When Nailer is the first to find a pristine ship that could mean the survival of his extended family, he is forced to decide if the girl trapped aboard the vessel has more of a claim to its wealth.
Imagine a world without lies, where news can be believed, crime no longer exists, and people have the time to focus on the arts. The government has created that world for Meri. In fact, until her mother’s accidental death, Meri never worried about anything. When a stranger appears who forces her to see the truth of the society, a truth that may have caused her mother’s death, Meri can’t stop looking until her suspicions are verified.
From SBPL
From SBHS
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Email Mrs. Manganello at lisa.manganello@sbschools.org
Mrs. Manganello