DYSTOPIAN FICTION FOR TWEENS & TEENS
By Rachel Seigel
WHAT IF?
What if the world
ran out of fresh
water?
What if you could
create the perfect
Stepford Teen?
What if all of the ice
caps melted?
What if a plague
wiped out most of
the population?
What if love were a
curable disease?
What if the
Government chose
who you married?
What if the world
runs out of oil?
What if we lived in a
totalitarian society?
What if we could be
harvested for spare
parts?
WHAT IS UTOPIA?
 Coined by Thomas More in 1516 in his book Utopia
 Term is a Greek pun on the word “ou-topos” meaning no place
and is translated as “Good Place”
 Describes any society governed by an ideal socio-political legal
system
 Refers to any theoretical or fictional community
WHAT IS DYSTOPIA?
 Evolves from the term Utopia, and derives from the ancient
Greek meaning “bad place/landscape”
 First known use is by John Stewart Mill in a parliamentary
speech given in 1868
 A dystopia is a flawed Utopia
A RECENT TIMELINE OF DYSTOPIAN FICTION
 1993- The Giver by Lois Lowry
 1998- Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix (First in the Shadow Children
series)
 2001-Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick
 2002- Feed by M.T. Anderson
 2003- City of Ember by Jeanne Du’Prau (First in the Books of Ember series)
 2005- The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (First in the Uglies series)
And then came……..
2008 - THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY BY
SUZANNE COLLINS
WHY IS THIS GENRE SO POPULAR?
Critical Thinking
Appeals to idealism of teens
Mirrors teenage experience
Want to fight for something
Ordinary heroes
Teens have autonomy
Dramatic, action-filled plots
Morally complex
Hopeful
FEATURES OF DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE
SOCIETY:
Degraded into repressive and controlled state
Social class is strictly defined and enforced
Emphasize a pressure to conform
Old ideas are difficult to shed for older generation
SOCIAL
Absence of social groups other than state
Independent religion is absent
Society is cut off from the rest of the world
Repressive control systems
Paranoia is prevalent
POLITICAL
Individual is powerless under Government control
Totalitarian or Authoritarian ruler
View of ruling class/government is pessimistic
Society is a constant state of warfare/violence
ECONOMIC
Mass poverty
State planned and controlled economy
Big Businesses have control
Black Market for banned/rare items
FAMILY
Institution of family exists at
service of state
One or both parents are
eradicated, helpless, absent
Kids function in adult roles at a
young age
ENVIRONMENT
Geography is drastically different
Disaster has devastated large cities
Nature is dangerous and to be avoided
Safety exists inside physical or proverbial wall
Matched by Ally Condie & Delirium by Lauren Oliver
INCARCERON & SAPPHIQUE BY CATHERINE FISHER,
THE MAZE RUNNER & THE SCORCH TRIALS BY JAMES
DASHNER
THE DECLARATION, THE RESISTANCE, LEGACY BY GEMMA
MALLEY, BIRTHMARKED BY CARAGH O’BRIEN
THE WATER WARS BY CAMERON STRACHER, THE OTHER
SIDE OF THE ISLAND BY ALLEGRA GOODMAN, SHIBREAKER
BY PAOLO BACIGALUPI
UNWIND BY NEIL SHUSTERMAN & CANDOR BY
PAM BACHROZ
EPITAPH ROAD BY DAVID PATENAUDE
THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, THE ASK AND THE
ANSWER, MONSTERS OF MEN BY PATRICK NESS
ROT & RUIN BY JONATHAN MABERRY, THE FOREST OF
HANDS AND TEETH, THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES BY CARRIE
RYAN
WITCH & WIZARD, WITCH & WIZARD: THE GIFT
BY JAMES PATTERSON
“You want the world to be full of good and evil. But it’s
only shades of grey. This world is full of saints who
perform unspeakable acts, and monsters who try to do
good”
(Source not found)