Dystopian Books
The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman (650L) Honor, living with her mom and dad on Island 365 in the Tranquil Sea, an environment controlled by the Earth Mother corporation in a post-apocalyptic world, becomes more fearful as she grows older and realizes that her nonconformist parents are putting the entire family at risk.
BZRK by Michael Grant In the near future, the conjoined Armstrong twins, under the guise of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, plot to create their own version of utopia using nanobots, while a guerilla group known as BZRK develops a DNA-based biot that can stop bots, but at risk of the host's brain.
Gone (Gone Series) by Michael Grant (620L) In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. Gone. Everyone except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not a single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Gone, too, are the phones, internet, and television. There is no way to get help. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents “unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers� that grow stronger by the day. It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen and war is imminent. The first in a breathtaking saga about teens battling each other and their darkest selves, gone is a page-turning thriller that will make you look at the world in a whole new way. Behind the Gates by Eva Gray (680L) "In a terrifying new world, four girls must depend on one another if they want to survive. Disaster and destruction are all thirteen-year-old Louisa has ever known. But now she and her best friend Maddie, are among the lucky few being sent to boarding school, far from home. Finally, a taste of freedom! Country Manor School isn't perfect: The girls' roommates are tough to get along with, and the school is hard work. Still, Louisa loves CMS--the survival skills classes, the fresh air. She doesn't even miss not having TV, or the Internet, or any contact with home. It's for their own safety, after all. Or is it?"
Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines In Massachusetts, eighteen-year-old Lyn, who has grown up in the public eye as the daughter of seven gladiators, wants nothing less than to follow her mother's path, but her only way of avoiding marriage to the warrior who killed her last stepfather may be to face him in the arena.
The Line by Terri Hall (760L) When Rachel and her mother move to Mrs. Moore's house-the one with the greenhouse, right next to the Line-Rachel starts questioning things. There are so many rumors of horrible things that lie beyond the Line-in a place called Away-but no one dares to talk about it. And it's no use asking questions- especially of Mrs. Moore, who has always lived by the Line, or of her mother, who is just happy to have a place to stay, especially since Rachel's father died in the war. But then Rachel comes across a recorded message-one that could only have come from Away. And the voice on the recorder is asking for help. As things start to unravel, the question becomes, how far is Rachel willing to go to cross the Line and do the right thing? Sequel Away Nomansland by Lesley Hauge (890L) Sometime in the future, after widespread devastation, a lonely, windswept island in the north is populated solely by women. Among them is a group of teenage Trackers, expert equestrians and archers, whose job is to protect their shores from the enemy - men. When these girls find a buried house from the distant past, they're fascinated by the strange objects they find - high-heel shoes, magazines, makeup. What do these mysterious artifacts mean? What must the past have been like for those people? And what will happen to their rigid, Spartan society if people find out what they've found? The Enemy by Charlie Higson (670L) THE DEAD begins one year before the action in THE ENEMY, just after the Disaster. A terrible disease has struck everyone sixteen and over, leaving them either dead or a decomposing, flesheating creature. The action starts in a boarding school just outside London, where all the teachers have turned into sickos. A few kids survive and travel by bus into the city. The bus driver, an adult named Greg, seems to be unaffected by the disease. Then he begins to show the dreaded signs: outer blisters and inner madness. The kids escape Greg and end up at the Imperial War Museum. A huge fire in South London drives them all to the Thames, and eventually over the river to the Tower of London. It is there they will meet up with the kids in THE ENEMY in Book 3, THE FEAR. The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch (790L) In an America devastated by war and plague, the only way to survive is to keep moving. In the aftermath of a war, America's landscape has been ravaged and two-thirds of the population left dead from a vicious strain of influenza. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived and became salvagers, roaming the country in search of material to trade. But when Stephen's grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma after an accident, Stephen finds his way to Settler's Landing, a community that seems too good to be true. Then Stephen meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny, who refuses to accept things as they are. And when they play a prank that goes horribly wrong, chaos erupts, and they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler's Landing--and their lives--forever.
Green Angel by Alice Hoffman (910 L) Haunted by grief and by her past after losing her family in a fire, fifteen-year-old Green retreats into her ruined garden as she struggles to survive emotionally and physically on her own. Green Angel is a post-apocalyptic novel.
The Game by Monica Hughes Unemployed after high school in the highly robotic society of 2154, Lisse and seven friends resign themselves to a boring existence in their "Designated Area" until the government invites them to play The Game.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (870L) Aldous Huxley’s tour de force, Brave New World is a darkly satiric vision of a "utopian" future where humans are genetically bred and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively serve a ruling order. A powerful work of speculative fiction that has enthralled and terrified readers for generations, it remains remarkably relevant to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying entertainment.
Possession by Elana Johnson (580L) In a world where Thinkers control the population and Rules are not meant to be broken, fifteen-yearold Violet Schoenfeld must make a choice to control or be controlled after learning truths about her "dead" sister and "missing" father. The sequel to this novel is Surrender.
Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky (700L) In the year 2060, when people hardly ever leave the security of their houses and instead do everything online, Madeline Freeman, the seventeen-year-old daughter of the man who created the national digital school attended by all citizens, is wooed by a group of radicals who are trying to get people to "unplug."
Those That Wake by Jesse Karp (880L) Teenagers Mal and Laura, having grown up in the grim reality of a spiritless New York City, face additional woes when Mal discovers his brother has disappeared and Laura's parents have forgotten her, and their efforts to reclaim their families lead the teens to discover that they have been erased from the memories of everyone they have ever known.
Truth by Julia Karr Companion to: XVI. When Nina Oberon's mother is killed, she discovers that her father is the leader of the Resistance and gets the same Governing Council-ordered tattoo of XVI on her wrist as the other sixteen-year-old girls. Nina joins an organization of girls working within the Resistance, determined to put an end to a terrifying secret program.
XVI by Julia Karr (600L) At fifteen, Nina Oberon lives in a totalitarian future society in which all girls are required to get a Governing Council-ordered "XVI" wrist tattoo on their sixteenth birthdays, announcing to the world that they are ready for sex, a claim Nina is not prepared to make, and when her mother is attacked right before Nina's birthday, she reveals a shocking truth with her dying breaths and Nina is left to care for her younger sister and try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.
The Fires of New Sun (The Blending Time Series) by Michael Kinch Under siege in the harsh African desert. Their only choice: rise up against ruthless renegades . . . or die. After weeks of suffering from exhaustion and starvation, Jaym and D'Shay, conscripted NorthAm Blenders, have helped dozens of Nswibe refugees cross the African desert under the blazing savannah sun. They've finally reunited with their friend, Reya, and found safe haven at a New SUN outpost, a cavern fortress hidden in the Blue Mountains. But their troubles are just beginning. Treachery and infighting run rampant at the camp. And as a massive attack looms, the three friends are quickly drawn into a deadly battle.
Epic by Conor Kostick (880L) Generations ago, violence was banned on New Earth. Society is governed and conflicts are resolved in the arena of a fantasy computer game, Epic. Everyone plays. If you win, you have the chance to go to university, get more supplies for your community, and fulfill your dreams; if you lose, your life both in and out of the game is worth nothing. When Erik, seeking revenge for the unjust treatment of his parents, dares to subvert the rules of Epic, he and his friends find themselves up against with the ultimate masters of the game: the Committee. If Erik and his friends win, they may have the key to destroying Epic’s tyranny over New Earth. But if they lose . . Freakling by Lana Krumwiede (600L) A thrilling, fast-paced dystopian novel about the dangers of unchecked power and the dilemmas facing a boy torn between two ways of life. In twelve-year-old Taemon’s city, everyone has a power called psi — the ability to move and manipulate objects with their minds. When Taemon loses his psi in a traumatic accident, he must hide his lack of power by any means possible. Taemon adjusts to his new life quickly, making friends and finding unconditional acceptance. But gradually he discovers that for all its openness, there are mysteries at the colony, too — dangerous secrets that would give unchecked power to psi wielders if discovered.
Void by Rhiannon Lassiter The CPS, a secret government agency, is on a mission to seek and destroy the Hex - human mutants with supercomputer minds. They are young. They look like normal teens. They must never be allowed to grow up. But the CPS has discovered Raven. Soon they will feel her power and know her rage.
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (700L) Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real. Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. we have lived among you without you knowing. But they know. They caught Number One in Malaysia. Number Two in England. And Number Three in Kenya. They killed them all. I am Number Four. I am next.
Legend by Marie Lu (710L) 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, fifteenyear-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 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. Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills. Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Mabery (780L) In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.
The Declaration by Gemma Malley (930L) It's the year 2140 and Longevity drugs have all but eradicated old age. A never-aging society can't sustain population growth, however...which means Anna should never have been born. Nor should any of the children she lives with at Grange Hall. These children are raised as servants, and brought up to believe they must atone for their very existence. Then one day a boy named Peter appears at the Hall, bringing with him news of the world outside, a place where people are starting to say that Longevity is bad, and that maybe people shouldn't live forever. Chilling, poignant, and endlessly though-provoking, The Declaration is a powerful debut that will have readers agonizing over Anna's fate until the very last page.
The Unidentified by Rae Mariz (740L) Fifteen-year-old Katey (aka Kid) goes to school in the Game—a mall converted into a "school" run by corporate sponsors. As students play their way through the levels, they are also creating products and being used for market research by the sponsors, who are watching them 24/7 on video cameras. Kid has a vague sense of unease, but doesn't question this existence until one day she witnesses a shocking anticorporate prank. She follows the clues to uncover the identities of the people behind it and discovers an anonymous group that calls itself the Unidentified. Intrigued by their counterculture ideas and enigmatic leader, Kid is drawn into the group. But when the Unidentified's pranks and even Kid's own identity are co-opted by the sponsors, Kid decides to do something bigger—something that could change the Game forever.
The Road by Cormac MCCarthy (670L) A father and his son walk alone through burned America. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged foodand each other. The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.
The Clone Codes by Pat McKissack (680L) On the run from a bounty hunter who arrested her mother for being part of a secret society devoted to freeing clones, thirteen-year-old Leanna learns amazing truths about herself and her family as she is forced to consider the value of freedom and what it really means to be human in 2170 America.
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (650L) No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.
Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden (850L) When Ellie and six of her friends return home from a camping trip deep in the bush, they find things hideously wrong -- their families gone, houses empty and abandoned, pets and stock dead. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in the town has been taken prisoner. As the horrible reality of the situation becomes evident they have to make a life-anddeath decision: to run back into the bush and hide, to give themselves up to be with their families, or to stay and try to fight. This riveting, tautly-drawn novel seems at times to be only a step away from today's headlines.
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard (840L) This complex and haunting exploration of life on the edge and what it takes to triumph over adversity is a story about the indomitable nature of hope. Two young boys, a beautiful teenage dancer, and the girl's baby-ragtag survivors of a sudden war-form a fragile family, hiding out in the ruins of an amusement park. As they scavenge for food, diapers, and baby formula, they must stay out of sight of vicious gangs and lawless solders. At first they rely on Billy, the only adult in the group. But as civil life deteriorates, Billy starts to fall apart. Skip, who is barely into his teens, must take over and lead them on a search for sanctuary.
The Lost Art by Simon Morden A MILLENNIUM AFTER the formidable war machines of the User cultures devoured entire civilizations and rewrote planetary geography, Earth is in the grip of a perpetual Dark Age. Scientific endeavor is strongly discouraged, while remnant technology is locked away--hidden by a Church determined to prevent a new Armageddon. This is the world to which Benzamir Michael Mahmood must return. A descendant of the tribes who fled the planet during those ages old wars, he comes in pursuit of enemies from the far reaches of space. The technology he brings is wondrous beyond the imaginings of those he will meet, but can its potency match that of the Church's most closely guarded treasure? For centuries it has lain dormant, but it is about to be unearthed, and the powers that will be unleashed may be beyond anyone's capacity to control. Winter’s End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat (730L) Four teenagers risk impossible odds to fight against tyranny in a world of dangerous choices and reemerging hope. Escape. Milena, Bartolomeo, Helen, and Milos have left their prison-like boarding schools far behind, but their futures remain in peril. Fleeing across icy mountains from a terrifying pack of dog-men sent to hunt them down, they are determined to take up the fight against the despotic government that murdered their parents years before. Only three will make it safely to the secret headquarters of the resistance movement. The fourth is captured and forced to participate in a barbaric game for the amusement of the masses further proof of the government's horrible brutality.
Ashfall by Mike Mullin (750L) Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a super volcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet. For Alex, being left alone for the weekend means having the freedom to play computer games and hang out with his friends without hassle from his mother. Then the Yellowstone super volcano erupts, plunging his hometown into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence. Alex begins a harrowing trek to search for his family and finds help in Darla, a travel partner he meets along the way. Together they must find the strength and skills to survive and outlast an epic disaster.
Vulture’s Wake by Kirsty Murray (780L) In this page-turning futuristic novel, a young woman finds out what it means to be living in a world destroyed by war, and a young man discovers that his only chance of survival is to question everything his parents taught him. Even though he is half dead, Callum is lucky. It is Bo's roboraptor who finds him-not the rogue Outstationers from whom the boy has escaped. The two barely escape capture when Callum discovers something incredible: Bo is a girl, maybe the last girl in a world in which females are thought to be extinct. And now, by helping Callum, she has put her own life at risk. With the Outstationers in hot pursuit, the two set off across a dangerous continent in hopes of finding haven in the city of Vulture's Gate. But nothing can prepare them for what they encounter at the end of their journey.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (860L) Pursued by power-hungry Prentiss and mad minister Aaron, young Todd and Viola set out across New World searching for answers about his colony's true past and seeking a way to warn the ship bringing hopeful settlers from Old World. Sequels: The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men.
Shade’s Children by Garth Nix (980L) The Key to Survival Rests in the Hands of Shade's Children In a futuristic urban wasteland, evil Overlords have decreed that no child shall live a day past his fourteenth birthday. On that Sad Birthday, the child is the object of an obscene harvest resulting in the construction of a machinelike creature whose sole purpose is to kill. The mysterious Shade -- once a man, but now more like the machines he fights -- recruits the few children fortunate enough to escape. With luck, cunning, and skill, four of Shade's children come closer than any to discovering the source of the Overlords' power -- and the key to their downfall. But the closer the children get, the more ruthless Shade seems to become.
Birthmarked by Caragh M. O’Brien (800L) In a future world baked dry by the sun and divided into those who live inside the wall and those who live outside it, sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone is forced into a difficult choice when her parents are arrested and taken into the city.
Z for Zachariah by Robert O’Brien (820L) Seemingly the only person left alive after a nuclear war, a sixteen-year-old girl is relieved to see a man arrive into her valley until she realizes that he is a tyrant and she must somehow escape.
Delirium by Lauren Oliver (920L) Love. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don’t. In Lauren Oliver’s stunning second novel, love has been declared a dangerous disease, and the government forces everyone who reaches eighteen to have a procedure called the cure. Lena Haloway is very much looking forward to being cured and living a safe, predictable life. But then she meets enigmatic Alex, who lives under the government’s radar. What will happen if they do the unthinkable and fall in love? Sequel is Pandemonium.
1984 by George Orwell (1090L) View our feature on George Orwell's 1984. Written in 1948, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, Orwell's narrative is more timely that ever. 1984 presents a "negative utopia," that is at once a startling and haunting vision of the world-so powerful that it is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of entire generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions-a legacy that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.
Witch & Wizard by James Patterson (710L) A sister and brother, along with thousands of young people, have been kidnapped and either thrown in prison or turned up missing after accusations of witchcraft were made against them, and the ruling regime will do anything in order to suppress life and liberty, music and books.
Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson (570L) Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (770L) Miranda's disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda's struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.
The Last Book in the Universe by W. R. Philbrick (740L) They call him Spaz, because his epilepsy prevents him from using mind probes that are rotting everyone else's minds. Which is why he still has a memory -- something rare in the frightening world he lives in, civilization has been destroyed, except for the forbidden place called Eden, where a small group of people have discovered genetic improvement. Yet one old man, the one they call Ryter, has a lot of crazy and wonderful ideas. Nobody remembers books, but Ryter is writing one -even though he knows he may be punished by death. Both chilling and inspiring, the story is ultimately about those who have the courage to become conscious in a world that invites us to choose illusion and denial. Here is a powerful tale of love, loss, and the challenges we all face to make thoughtful, moral choices.
Fever Crumb (prequel to The Mortal Engines Quartet) by Phillip Reeve (1000L) Fever Crumb is a girl who has been adopted and raised by Dr. Crumb, a member of the order of Engineers, where she serves as apprentice. In a time and place where women are not seen as reasonable creatures, Fever is an anomaly, the only female to serve in the order. Soon though, she must say goodbye to Dr. Crumb-nearly the only person she's ever known-to assist archeologist Kit Solent on a top-secret project. As her work begins, Fever is plagued by memories that are not her own and Kit seems to have a particular interest in finding out what they are. Sequels: A Web of Air, Scrivener’s Moon.
The Mortal Engines Quartet by Phillip Reeve (990L) London is hunting. The great Traction City lumbers after a small town, eager to strip its prey of all assets and move on. Resources on the Great Hunting Ground that once was Europe are so limited that mobile cities must consume one another to survive, a practice known as Municipal Darwinism. Tom, an apprentice in the Guild of Historians, saves his hero, Head Historian Thaddeus Valentine, from a murder attempt by the mysterious Hester Shaw — only to find himself thrown from the city and stranded with Hester in the Out Country. As they struggle to follow the tracks of the city, the sinister plans of London's leaders begin to unfold ...In the distant future, when cities move about and consume smaller towns, a fifteen-year-old apprentice is pushed out of London by the man he most admires and must seek answers in the perilous Out-Country, aided by one girl and the memory of another. Sequels: Mortal Engines, Predator’s Gold, Infernal Devices, A Darkling Plain
Fire Will Fall by Carol Plum-Ucci (810L) ShadowStrike poisoned the water of Trinity Falls two months ago. Now the Trinity Four, the teens most affected by the poison, have been isolated in a remote mansion, under twenty-four-hour medical care while scientists on four continents rush to discover a cure. Meanwhile, U.S. operatives scour the world for the bioterrorists responsible for this heinous crime, as two teen virtual spies, also infected, hunt for the criminals on the Internet. The danger remains real for ShadowStrike has every reason to pursue the Trinity Four, and their evil plan will unleash a new designer virus that's even deadlier than the first.
Starters by Lissa Price To support herself and her younger brother in a future Beverly Hills, sixteen-year-old Callie hires her body out to seniors who want to experience being young again, and she lives a fairy-tale life until she learns that her body will commit murder, unless her mind can stop it.
Across the Universe by Beth Revis (720L) A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules. Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next. Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts (620L) Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…Now it’s our turn. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. An ancient evil has been unleashed, turning everyday people into hunters, killers, crazies. Aries survives an earthquake aftershock on a bus, and thinks the worst is over when a mysterious stranger pulls her out of the wreckage, but she’s about to discover a world changed forever. Clementine, the only survivor of an emergency town hall meeting that descends into murderous chaos, is on the run from savage strangers who used to be her friends and neighbors. And Michael witnesses a brutal road rage incident that is made much worse by the arrival of the police—who gun down the guilty party and then turn on the by-standing crowd.
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (1620L) "Every war has turning points and every person too." Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she's never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy. As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it's a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy's uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way. A riveting and an astonishing story.
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (580L) Since she’d been on the outside, she’d survived another storm, she’d had a knife held to her throat, and she’d seen men murdered. Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She’s been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive. In her enthralling debut, Veronica Rossi sends readers on an unforgettable adventure set in a world brimming with harshness and beauty.
Divergent by Veronica Roth (700L) In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. Sequel: Insurgent
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (900L) In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best, and the fence that protects her village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth must remain intact. After fence is breached, Mary's world is thrown into chaos, and she must choose between her village and her future. Sequel: Dead Tossed Waves and The Dark and Hollow Places
Grace by Elizabeth Scott (860L) Grace was raised to be an Angel, a herald of death by suicide bomb. But she refuses to die for the cause, and now Grace is on the run, daring to dream of freedom. In search of a border she may never reach, she travels among malevolent soldiers on a decrepit train crawling through the desert. Accompanied by the mysterious Kerr, Grace struggles to be invisible, but the fear of discovery looms large as she recalls the history and events that delivered her uncertain fate. Told in spare, powerful prose by acclaimed author Elizabeth Scott, this tale of a dystopian near future will haunt readers long after they've reached the final page.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman (740L) In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.
Article 5 by Kristen Simmons Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller has perfected the art of keeping a low profile in a future society in which Moral Statutes have replaced the Bill of Rights and offenses carry stiff penalties, but when Chase, the only boy she has ever loved, arrests her rebellious mother, Ember must take action.
Inside Out by Maria Snyder "...I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping the inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job, and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels. The only neck at risk is my own...until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to-girl to lead a revolution"— Sequel Outside In
The Big Empty by J.B. Stephens One year ago, a devastating plague called Strain 7 killed three quarters of the human race. Around the world, power systems failed and supply chains screeched to a halt. The surviving population of the United States has been relocated to the coasts; the heartland is now a wasteland called The Big Empty. But seven teens trying to put their lives back together will learn that the abandoned zone holds danger, secrets, and above all, hope.
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (840L) It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.
The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher (750L) Would you risk everything for someone you just met? What if he had a secret worth killing for? Welcome to a future where water is more precious than oil or gold... Hundreds of millions of people have already died, and millions more will soon fall-victims of disease, hunger, and dehydration. It is a time of drought and war. The rivers have dried up, the polar caps have melted, and drinkable water is now in the hands of the powerful few. There are fines for wasting it and prison sentences for exceeding the quotas. But Kai didn't seem to care about any of this. He stood in the open road drinking water from a plastic cup, then spilled the remaining drops into the dirt. He didn't go to school, and he traveled with armed guards. Kai claimed he knew a secretsomething the government is keeping from us... And then he was gone. Vanished in the middle of the night. Was he kidnapped? Did he flee? Is he alive or dead? Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari (810L) A thrilling tale of adventure, romance, and one girl's unyielding courage through the darkest of nightmares. Epidemics, floods, droughts--for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.
Escape the Mask: The Grassland Trilogy by David Ward In Grassland the only hope of freedom is to go beyond the reach of sinister, silent masters, and the only family you know are your fellow captives. Coriko has never known a world beyond his cell and the fields where he toils all day. He does what he’s told and tries not to anger the Spears, the cruel, masked jailers who guard him and the other child slaves. If he gathers baskets of shards and keeps quiet and orderly, then he can spend time with his cellmate and best friend, Pippa. But without warning, the children’s orderly lives begin to change—slowly at first, with the arrival of a pair of siblings who speak Coriko and Pippa’s language. Soon after, violent events shake up the quiet world of Grassland, and Coriko must find the strength to grasp his freedom. Full of heartstopping action, Escape the Mask introduces Coriko, Pippa, and their friends—and begins the journey of The Grassland Trilogy: Escape the Mask, Beneath the Mask, and Beyond the Mask.
Skinned: Cold Awakening Trilogy by Robin Wasserman "The Download was supposed to change the world. It was supposed to mean the end of aging, the end of death, the birth of a new humanity. But it wasn't supposed to happen to someone like Lia Kahn. And it wasn't supposed to ruin her life."— Series: Skinned, Crashed, and Wired
The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld (770L) Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that? Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever. Series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras
The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn (720L) Individuality vs. conformity. Identity vs. access. Freedom vs. control. The bar code tattoo. Everybody's getting it. It will make your life easier, they say. It will hook you in. It will become your identity. But what if you say no? What if you don't want to become a code? For Kayla, this one choice changes everything. She becomes an outcast in her high school. Dangerous things happen to her family. There's no option but to run . . . for her life. Individuality vs. conformity.. Identity vs. access. Freedom vs. control. Series: The Bar Code Tattoo, The Bar Code Rebellion, and The Bar Code Prophecy.
Empty by Suzanne Weyn (790L) A dystopic look at what happens to one American town when all the fossil fuels run out... It's the near future - the very near future - and the fossil fuels are running out. No gas. No oil. Which means no driving. No heat. Supermarkets are empty. Malls have shut down. Life has just become more local than we ever knew it could be. Nobody expected the end to come this fast. And in the small town of Spring Valley, decisions that once seemed easy are quickly becoming matters of life and death. There is hope - there has to be hope - just there are also sacrifices that need to be made, and a whole society that needs to be rethought.
Storm Thief by Chris Wooding (800L) A darkly thrilling new novel from master storyteller Chris Wooding, about a civilization plagued by chaos and reality-rearranging storms. Orokos is a city of chaos, lashed by probability storms that reorder the world wherever they strike. It covers every inch of the rocky island that it dominates. It has stood for so long that history has forgotten it, and its citizens no longer question what exists beyond its walls. Then three of its denizens discover a map that holds the key to the secret at the heart of Orokos. But there are others, such as the Chief of the Protectorate Secret Police who would do anything to get their hands on that power...anything at all...
Blood Red Road by Moira Young (460L) Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. When a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Her beloved twin brother Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back. Sequel: Rebel Heart
Birthright series (All These Things I’ve Done) by Gabrielle Zevin (630L) In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family. Sequel: Because It Is My Blood Enclave by Ann Aguirre (650L) New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20s. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a young boy. As the two are guided by Fade's long-ago memories, they face dangers, and feelings, unlike any they've ever known. Sequel: Outpost
Swipe by Evan Angler Set in a future North America that is struggling to recover after famine and global war, Swipe follows the lives of three kids caught in the middle of a conflict they didn't even know existed. United under a charismatic leader, every citizen of the American Union is required to get the Mark on their 13th birthday in order to gain the benefits of citizenship. The Mark is a tattoo that must be swiped by special scanners for everything from employment to transportation to shopping. It's almost Logan Langly's 13th birthday and he knows he should be excited about getting the Mark, but he hasn't been able to shake the feeling he's being watched. Not since his sister went to get her Mark five years ago. The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler Josh and Emma are about to discover themselves--fifteen years in the future It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long--at least, up until last November, when everything changed. Things have been awkward ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD-ROM in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto Facebook . . . but Facebook hasn't been invented yet. Josh and Emma are looking at themselves fifteen years in the future. And every time they refresh their pages, their futures change. As they grapple with the ups and downs of what their lives hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right--and wrong--in the present.
The Diary of Pelly D by L.J. Adlington (770L) Toni V, a construction worker on a futuristic colony, finds the diary of a teenage girl whose life has been turned upside-down by holocaust-like events, and he begins to question his own beliefs.
Feed by M.T. Anderson (770L) In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.
X-Isle by Steve Augarde (890L) Ever since the floods came and washed the world away, survivors have been desperate to win a place on X-Isle, the island where life is rumored to be easier than on what's left of the mainland. Only young boys stand a chance of getting in, the smaller and lighter the better. Powerful and compelling, X-Isle a fast-moving thriller and a great read for boys. Filled with suspense, fights, adventure, and mystery, this is a book that will keep you guessing right to the very end.
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (690L) In America's Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts, Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota--and hopefully live to see another day. But when, by luck or chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his life: Strip the ship for all it's worth or rescue its lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life. . Sequel: The Drowned Cities
Drought by Pam Bachorz (570L) Ruby Prosser longs for escape from the Congregation and the early-nineteenth-century lifestyle the community practices, even though she knows the Congregants need her blood to survive, but when she meets Ford, the new Overseer, who holds the promise to access to the modern world, her will to stay weakens.
Candor by Pam Bachorz (350L) For a fee, "model teen" Oscar Banks has been secretly--and selectively--sabotaging the subliminal messages that program the behavior of the residents of Candor, Florida, until his attraction to a rebellious new girl threatens to expose his subterfuge.
Exodus by Julie Bertagna (870L) In the year 2100, as the island of Wing is about to be covered by water, fifteen-year-old Mara discovers the existence of New World sky cities that are safe from the storms and rising waters, and convinces her people to travel to one of these cities in order to save themselves.
Ashes by Ilsa Bick Alex, a resourceful seventeen-year-old running from her incurable brain tumor, Tom, who has left the war in Afghanistan, and Ellie, an angry eight-year-old, join forces after an electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky and kills most of the world's population, turning some of those who remain into zombies and giving the others superhuman senses.
The Compound by S.A. Bodeen (570L) Fifteen-year-old Eli, locked inside a radiation-proof compound built by his father to keep them safe following a nuclear attack, begins to question his future, as well as his father's grip on sanity as the family's situation steadily disintegrates over the course of six years.
The Gardner by S.A. Bodeen (620L) When high school sophomore Mason finds a beautiful but catatonic girl in the nursing home where his mother works, the discovery leads him to revelations about a series of disturbing human experiments that have a connection to his own life.
Struck by Jennifer Bosworth (720L) After a major earthquake devastates Los Angeles, seventeen-year-old Mia wants only to take care of her younger brother and traumatized mother, but two fanatical doomsday cults vie for her powers, drawn from the multiple lightning strikes she has experienced.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (890L) Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires... The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning…along with the houses in which they were hidden. Guy Montag enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs nor the joy of watching pages consumed by flames…never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then he met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think…and Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do!
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (690L) When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.
Eve by Anna Carey In 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus has wiped out most of the population, Eve discovers the terrible fate that awaits students when they graduate from their all-girls school, and she sets off on a treacherous journey into the wilds of the New America, searching for a place where she can survive. Sequel: Once, Rise
The Roar by Emma Clayton (910L) In an overpopulated world where all signs of nature have been obliterated and a wall has been erected to keep out plague-ridden animals, twelve-year-old Mika refuses to believe that his twin sister was killed after being abducted, and continues to search for her in spite of the dangers he faces in doing so. Sequel: The Whisper
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (990L) In the year 2044, Wade Watts, like the rest of humanity, chooses to escape reality and spends his waking hours in the limitless, utopian virtual world of the OASIS, but when Wade stumbles upon the first of the fiendish puzzles set up by OASIS creator James Halliday he finds he must compete with thousands of others--including those willing to commit murder--in order to claim a prize of massive fortune.
Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie (680L) Cassia has always had complete trust in the Society to make decisions for her, but when she is being paired with her ideal mate, a second face flashes on the screen, and Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility as she tries to decide which man she truly loves. Sequels: Crossed and Reached
The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe Sixteen-year-old Kaelyn challenges her fears, finds a second chance at love, and fights to keep her family and friends safe as a deadly new virus devastates her island community.
After the Snow by S.D. Crockett (700L) The oceans stopped working before Willo was born, so the world of ice and snow is all he's ever known. He lives with his family deep in the wilderness, far from the government's controlling grasp. Willo's survival skills are put to the test when he arrives home one day to find his family gone. It could be the government; it could be scavengers—all Willo knows is he has to find refuge and his family. It is a journey that will take him into the city he's always avoided, with a girl who needs his help more than he knows. Breathe by Sarah Crossan "In a barren land, a shimmering glass dome houses the survivors of the Switch, the period when oxygen levels plunged and the green world withered. A state lottery meant a lucky few won safety, while the rest suffocated in the thin air. And now Alina, Quinn, and Bea--an unlikely trio, each with their own agendas, their own longings and fears--walk straight into the heart of danger. With two days' worth of oxygen in their tanks, they leave the dome. What will happen on the third day?"—
The Kill Order by James Dashner Prequel to: The maze runner. Mark and Trina struggle to survive as modern civilization is destoryed by sun flares and mutating diseases
The Maze Runner by James Dashner (770L) Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape. Sequel: The Scorch Trials
Wither (Chemical Garden Series) by Lauren Distefano (800L) After modern science turns every human into a genetic time bomb with men dying at age twenty-five and women dying at age twenty, girls are kidnapped and married off in order to repopulate the world. Series: Fever and Sever
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (900L) Interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus is released into what is now a police state, and decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right.
For the Win by Cory Doctorow (1070L) A group of teens from around the world find themselves drawn into an online revolution arranged by a mysterious young woman known as Big Sister Nor, who hopes to challenge the status quo and change the world using her virtual connections.
Dark Life by Kat Falls (690L) When fifteen-year-old Ty, who has always lived on the ocean floor, joins Topside girl Gemma in the frontier's underworld to seek and stop outlaws who threaten his home, they learn that the government may pose an even greater threat. Sequel: Rip Tide
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (660L) In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.
Truancy by Isamu Fukui (1000L) In the City, where an iron-fisted Mayor's goal is perfect control through education, fifteen-year-old Tack is torn between a growing sympathy for the Truancy, an underground movement determined to bring down the system at any cost, and the desire to avenge a death caused by a Truant.
Black Hole Sun by David Gill (610L) Sixteen-year-old Durango and his crew of mercenaries are hired by the settlers of a mining community on Mars to protect their most valuable resource from a feral band of marauders.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding (770L) After a plane crash strands them on a tropical island while the rest of the world is ravaged by war, a group of British school boys attempts to form a civilized society but descends into brutal anarchy.
The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman (650L) Honor, living with her mom and dad on Island 365 in the Tranquil Sea, an environment controlled by the Earth Mother corporation in a post-apocalyptic world, becomes more fearful as she grows older and realizes that her nonconformist parents are putting the entire family at risk.
The Always War by Margaret Haddix (700L) In a war-torn future United States, fifteen-year-old Tessa, her childhood friend Gideon, now a traumatized military hero, and Dek, a streetwise orphan, enter enemy territory and discover the shocking truth about a war that began more than seventy-five years earlier.
The Bridge by Jane Higgins High school student Nik, having been denied entry into the Internal Security and Intelligence Services but been afraid to ask why, searches for answers while on a mission to save Sol after he is kidnapped following a bombing of the school and takeover by hostiles from the Southside, a place where the hostiles live in squalor and desperation
The Pearl Wars: Skyship Academy by Nick James (650L) In 2095 when a fifteen-year-old slacker discovers that he has the power to control Pearls, fragments of space debris that are a dying Earth's most important energy source, government forces work to capture him.
Turnabout by Margaret Haddix (690L) Melly and Anny Beth agree to participate in Project Turnabout, a scientific experiment in which they are given a shot that will make them grow younger, until they receive a second injection that will stop the aging process, but when other participants die after receiving the second shot, Melly and Anny Beth refuse to have the shot and set out to find someone to care for them when they are too young to do it themselves. The Line by Teri Hall (760L) Rachel thinks that she and her mother are safe working for Ms. Moore at her estate close to The Line, an invisible border of the Unified States, but when Rachel has an opportunity to Cross into the forbidden zone, she is both frightened and intrigued. Sequel: Away
Rash by Pete Hautman (730L) In a future society that has decided it would "rather be safe than free," sixteen-year-old Bo's anger management problems land him in a tundra jail where he survives with the help of his running skills and an artificial intelligence program named Bork.
Bunker 10 by J.A. Henderson (680L) Something is going terribly wrong at the top secret Pinewood Military Installation, and the teenage geniuses who study and work there are about to discover a horrible truth as they lead a small military force trying to retrieve data and escape before the compound self-destructs.
A Crack in the Sky by Mark Peter Hughes (740L) Thirteen-year-old Eli Papadopoulos, a member of the family that founded InfiniCorp, the massive corporation that runs everything in the domed cities, becomes worried when the sky keeps shorting out, but his questions get him sent away to the Tower where he meets Tabitha, and together they make plans to escape.
Insignia by S.J. Kincaid (750L) Tom, a fourteen-year-old genius at virtual reality games, is recruited by the United States Military to begin training at the Pentagon Spire as a Combatant in World War III, controlling the mechanized drones that do the actual fighting off-planet
The Limit by Kristen Landon (690L) When his family exceeds its legal debt limit, thirteen-year-old Matt is sent to the Federal Debt Rehabilitation Agency workhouse, where he discovers illicit activities are being carried out using the children who have been placed there.
The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry Series: The Giver, Gathering Blue, The Messenger, Son They called her Water Claire. When she washed up on their shore, no one knew that she came from a society where emotions and colors didn’t exist. That she had become a Vessel at age thirteen. That she had carried a Product at age fourteen. That it had been stolen from her body. Claire had a son. But what became of him she never knew. What was his name? Was he even alive? She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible. Now Claire will stop at nothing to find her child, even if it means making an unimaginable sacrifice.
The Legacy by Gemma Malley Sequel to: Resistance. When a Pincent Pharma truck is ambushed by the Underground, revealing not the expected supply of drugs but corpses, it becomes clear that the Longevity prescription for eternal youth is failing to live up to its promises, and when the Underground is blamed for releasing a deadly virus, the truth finally comes out.
The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum Dante, a prisoner sent from fifteenth-century Italy into the early twenty-first as punishment, meets and falls in love with Abby, a high school senior who may be the only one who can save him.
While I Live by John Marsden Ellie Linton, an Australian teen who engaged in guerilla warfare with invading forces after returning home from a camping trip with friends to find her family and the entire town imprisoned, tries to adjust to life on the farm following the end of hostilities, but finds the peace uneasy both across the border and within herself.
Cyborg by Pat McKissick (710L) Houston struggles to adhere to the strange rules of his universe and hide the fact that he is a cyborg from the government, which uses laws to torment the citizens--and the cyborgs in particular.
Ashfall by Mike Mullen (730L) Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet. Sequel: Ashen Winter
Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris Janelle Tenne, having been brought back to life by loner Ben Michaels after being hit by a pickup truck two days before the start junior year, finds a countdown clock while searching her dad's FBI files for clues about how Ben revived her and soon realizes she must figure out Ben's secret in order to save the world.
Prized by Caragh O’Brien (680L) Sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone is in the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumor to guide her when she is captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where she must follow a strict social code or never see her sister again.
The Inferior by Peadar O’Guilin (760L) Stopmouth, who is considered to be a slow learner, fights to survive in a world of cannibalism with his family as they hunt rival species, and when he is betrayed by his brother, a beautiful woman falls from the sky and changes his life. Sequel: The Deserter
Revived by Cat Patrick Having been brought back from the dead repeatedly by a top-secret government super drug called Revive, and forced to move so the public does not learn the truth, fifteen-year-old Daisy meets people worth living for and begins to question the heavy-handed government controls she has dealt with for eleven years.
Epitaph Road by David Patneaude In 2097, men are a small and controlled minority in a utopian world ruled by women, and fourteenyear-old Kellen must fight to save his father from an outbreak of the virus that killed ninety-seven percent of the male population thirty years earlier.
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson (570L) Seventeen-year-old Jenna Angeline Fox wakes from a long coma with no memory of who she is, and is sent home with her mother and inexplicably hostile grandmother where hours of video recordings of her childhood help spark her memories and send her on a horrifying quest to learn what really happened to her. Sequel: The Fox Inheritance
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Kiana Peterfreund (770L) "Elliot North fights to save her family's land and her own heart in this post-apocalyptic reimaging of Jane Austen's Persuasion
Chasers by James Phelan In post-apocalyptic New York City, Jesse, Dave, Anna, and Mini discover the lengths they will go to survive in a world where horrifying predators roam the streets, searching for human flesh.
Virals by Kathy Reichs (480L) Tory Brennan and her friends are exposed to a canine parvovirus when they rescue a dog from a medical testing facility and soon realize they have heightened senses, which they use to solve a cold case murder. Sequel: Seizure
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex (740L) Twelve-year-old Gratuity "Tip" Tucci is left to fend for herself after Earth is colonized by aliens and her mother is abducted, and must try to stop another alien invasion with only the help of a cat named Pig and an alien named J. Lo.
Glow (Sky Chaser series) by Amy Ryan The Empyrean is the only home 15-year-old Waverly has ever known. Part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space, she and her boyfriend Kieran will be pioneers of New Earth. Waverly knows she must marry young in order to have children who can carry on the mission, and Kieran, the handsome captain-to-be, has everything Waverly could want in a husband. Everyone is sure he’s the best choice. Still, there’s a part of Waverly that wants more from life than marriage, and she is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth. Sequel: Spark
Devastation by Gloria Skurzynski With war looming between the few remaining world powers for possession of a remote Pacific island where people can live free of the domes that confine the world's population, fourteen-year-old Corgan, a test tube baby genetically engineered to be the perfect virtual warrior, gets ready to go into action, not realizing all he does not know until he meets his teammate, the beautiful Sharla. Sequel: Afterwar
Test by William Sleator (750L) In the security-obsessed, elitist United States of the near future, where a standardized test determines each person's entire future, a powerful man runs a corrupt empire until seventeen-year-old Ann and other students take the lead in boycotting the test.
The Last Universe by William Sleator (690L) Susan and her wheelchair-bound brother, Gary, discover a mysterious maze in the vast gardens of their isolated home. Planted by a scientist uncle who disappeared long ago, the maze offers seemingly endless routes and choices. The teenagers discover that each turn they take alters their world in some way. Sickly Gary sees a chance to change his fate; Susan sees that they may both be lost forever. Sleator keeps readers guessing right up to the shocking ending.
Memento Nora by Angie Smibert (670L) Nora, Winter, and Micah, friends in a near future world in which terrorism is common and a single pill can wipe out disturbing memories, work together to create an underground comic for them and their classmates to share experiences they want to remember.
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami In an alternative future Japan, junior high students are given weapons and forced to fight on a deserted island until only one is left standing.
The Comet’s Curse by Dom Testa (840L) Desperate to save the human race after a comet's deadly particles devastate the adult population, scientists create a ship that will carry a crew of 251 teenagers to a home in a distant solar system.
H.I.V.E The Higher Institute of Villainous Education series by Mark Walden (1040L) Thirteen-year-old orphan Otto Malpense, identified as a boy with a special talent for villainy, is kidnapped and taken to the remote Higher Institute of Villainous Education, or H.I.V.E., where he is enrolled in a six-year training program and immediately begins formulating a plan to escape. Series: The Overlord Protocol, Escape Velocity, Dreadnought, Rogue, Zero Hour, Aftershock, Deadlock
The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman While working on a project translating letters from sixteenth-century Prague, high school senior Nora Kane discovers her best friend murdered with her boyfriend the apparent killer and is caught up in a dangerous web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all searching for a mysterious ancient device purported to allow direct communication with God.
Variant by Robison Wells (640L) After years in foster homes, seventeen-year-old Benson Fisher applies to New Mexico's Maxfield Academy in hopes of securing a brighter future, but instead he finds that the school is a prison and no one is what he or she seems. Sequel: Feedback
Partials by Dan Wells Humans engineered Partials for defense, but these creatures turned against their creators, setting off a virus that killed most of the world's population. Eleven years later, sixteen year-old Kira, a nursemedic in training, and her friends capture a Partial, which Kira wants to study for a cure. Wells presents a frighteningly familiar world and realistic characters but saps the tension with lengthy scientific passages.
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (790L) In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts.
The Secret Hour, Midnighters by Scott Westerfeld (740L) Upon moving to Bixby, Oklahoma, fifteen-year-old Jessica Day learns that she is one in a special group born at the stroke of midnight who can roam the town at a secret hour while others sleep--and that she must fight the evil creatures who share her power.
No Child’s Game by Andrea White (670L) In the year 2083, five fourteen-year-olds who were deprived by chance of the opportunity to continue their educations re-enact Scott's 1910-1913 expedition to the South Pole as contestants on a reality television show, secretly aided by a Department of Entertainment employee.
Fight Game by K. Wild (760L) Gypsy boy Freedom Smith, a born fighter, makes a deal with the police after being arrested for a crime he did not commit, and agrees to go undercover to infiltrate a high-tech fight club that is targeting street kids.
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (720L) After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live."