Hunger Games 3

Scholastic recently announced the title of the final book in the wildly popular Hunger Games trilogy, which will be Mockingjay. If you're a fan of dystopian sci-fi and you haven't read this provocative series, you're missing out. In the novels, a mockingjay is a genetic mutant, originally created to spy for the government but now a symbol of the burgeoning rebellion. Speaking for myself, I can't wait!

Mockingjay releases August 24th, but PCPL has already ordered it, so you can put yourself on the list today! While you're waiting, here are some other whiz-bang dystopic novels to assuage your appetite for futures gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix (children's)
For the crime of being born a third child in a world where people are only allowed two, Luke must stay hidden. If discovered, he will die. But when Luke learns about other third children, he realizes there's a whole world beyond the walls of his house. This is the first novel in the Shadow Children series.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (teen)
Like most teenagers, Tally can't wait until her sixteenth birthday. That's when she'll get the surgery that all teenagers in her world get, the one that turns them pretty and sets them off on a whirlwind adventure of parties and fun. But the question she hasn't asked herself is, what will she give up in return for becoming pretty?

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
This nonfiction book asks the intriguing question, what if we all disappeared today, but left the rest of the earth intact? What would happen as our nuclear power plants fail, as our subways flood, and as plants and wildlife take our cities back? It's not exactly a dystopia, but it is marvelously thought-provoking.

Are you a dystopia fan? Share your favorite examples of the genre in the comments!