GENRE : Dystopian fiction

          A Librarian friend and I have created (and presented a workshop on) a bunch of really great "Recommended if you like" lists, or "RIYL" for short.  We presented at the California School Library Association conference, and have continued to work on building our collection of genre lists.  We format them as double-sided bookmarks, with the genre heading and an illustration/picture on one side, and the list of titles on the reverse, and leave them out on the circ desk for students to browse through and keep.  What's really great is when you see kids keeping the bookmarks and checking off each title as they read their way through the list.  (Examples of some of our list titles: "Have You Mythed Out?" "Read the Movie," "RIYL Tim Burton," "Sugar and Spikes," and "Define Normal")

          When the English classes are studying 1984 they all start asking for books "like" 1984, which is a pretty specific sub-genre of science fiction, or rather speculative fiction.  It gets pretty sticky.  If you just do a general search in the library's database for science fiction, you get way too much, same with using "future" as a keyword.  I've started manually adding "dystopian fiction" in the cataloging records for any books that fit the bill, so it's quicker & easier to find them. 

          Here's an updated version of our Dystopian Fiction bibliography:


UTOPIA or DYSTOPIA?



What does the future hold?



The Diary of Pelly D by L.J. Adlington

Feed by M.T. Anderson

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood

Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury, Ray

The Roar by Emma Clayton

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Dick

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by N. Farmer

The House of the Scorpion by N. Farmer

The Dirt Eaters by Dennis Foon

The Beach by Alex Garland

“Gone” series by Michael Grant

Among the Hidden by Margaret Haddix

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Epic by Conor Kostick

This Side of Paradise by Steven L. Layne

The Cure by Sonia Levitin

Fearless by Tim Lott

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Messenger by Lois Lowry

The Resistance by Gemma Malley

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Secret Under My Skin by J. McNaughton

Z for Zachariah by Robert O’Brien

1984 by George Orwell

Witch & Wizard by James Patterson

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Pearson

Last Book in the Universe by Philbrick

The Forest of Hands & Teeth by C. Ryan

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

“Virtual War” series by Gloria Skurzynski

Truesight by David Stahler

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

“Uglies” series by Scott Westerfeld

The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn

Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

*All titles found in our Library*



          At first it was kind of fun, and I was finding plenty of books, but then I started noticing that there are numerous sub-genres of what I guess would fit under the umbrella term "speculative."  Things like post-apocalyptic, steampunk (all the rage now), etc.  And just because a novel is set in the future, does that automatically  make it utopian/dystopian?



          Even some English & Literature teachers have a hard time defining the parameters of general "science fiction."  I bossily intervened earlier this year when one of our English teachers claimed Jurassic Park was NOT science fiction because it's not set in the future.  She told a student he couldn't use it for a sci-fi book report, and since that teacher is a pal of mine, I emailed her several different comprehensive definitions of sci-fi from several different sources, to show that sci-fi isn't just future fiction.  Her reply was, "I think someone has waaay too much time on his hands over there in that library..."

          Which was funny, but unfair.  Isn't that the kind of thing we library people are SUPPOSED to care about?  Isn't that why we're here?  To be anal-retentive about literary details, definitions, and labelling?  (I have many thoughts & ideas on labelling.)  Anyway, she conceded the debate and let the kid use Jurassic Park, so...  I win.  Probably mostly because she doesn't really give a shit, as long as the kids are reading and comprehending.



          (And by the way, unfortunately I now feel compelled to work on a list of science fiction that deals specifically with genetic engineering, cloning, stem cells, etc. starting with Michael Crichton's books.)

          But back to dystopian fiction:

          I know everyone's batshit crazy for the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, and it's obviously THE dystopian teen series at this time.  I'm sure it's great, but the concept just makes me think of Battle Royale by Koushun Takami, which was originally published in Japan in 1999, almost a decade before The Hunger Games.  I haven't read Hunger Games yet, and I never will because I'm totally sick of hearing about it.  (Note: I did read Collins' Gregor the Overlander and totally loved it) 

          I'm sure what differentiates Hunger Games most from Battle Royale is that it's more palatable to teachers and librarians.

          Therefore, if I decide I want to read about teens having to battle to the death for survival in a harsh future, I will read the more controversial and possibly distasteful Battle Royale.  Because that's how I roll.