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Dystopia

The Last Cuentista

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The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids, Tweens, Teens

Halley’s Comet is on a collision course with Earth. Petra Peña, an aspiring storyteller, does not want to leave her abuelita behind, but she and her family are among the select few who have been chosen to take to the stars.  Petra, her parents, and her little brother will spend the next 380 years in stasis learning everything they need to know to survive on their new planet. They will be humanity’s last hope. When Petra is awakened from stasis, however, she finds that her ship has been taken over by the Collective. They have reprogrammed everyone and erased all memories of Earth.  Petra is the only one who still remembers her home world, her family, and all of their cuentos.  She must use her stories of the past in an attempt to secure mankind’s future.

The Last Cuentista was just selected as the winner of the John Newbery Medal as well as the Pura Belpré Award. It was one of TIME’s Best Books of the Year and the Wall Street Journal’s Best of the Year, among others. I understand why. This book was full of storytelling magic. Despite some unexpected dark twists and turns that were a bit shocking, this was a beautifully told story. It combines science fiction, Mexican folklore, and a dystopian future. It is definitely one to add to your reading list!

Find The Last Cuentista in our catalog

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”

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Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” by Miles Hyman
Format: Graphic novel
Who’s it for: adults

Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” continues to thrill and disturb readers even after it was first published. “The Lottery” introduces upsetting questions about conformity, customs and traditions, and the ritualized violence that may besiege even the most rural, passive community.

This graphic adaptation by Jackson’s grandson, Miles Hyman, allows readers to experience “The Lottery” in a new format. In a small American community, the current residents are alive with eagerness and anxiety when they wake on the morning of the twenty-seventh of June. Everything has been organized for the town’s yearly ritual—a lottery in which all families must partake, and nobody desires to win.

 

Find Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” in the catalog! 

The House of the Scorpion

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The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Format:  Book
Who it’s For:  Teens and Adults

Matteo Alacrán wasn’t born; he was harvested.  His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a state called Opium—poppy fields lay between the United States and land that what was once named Mexico.  Matt’s cells were divided inside a petri dish, and he was then placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued to develop from embryo to fetus to baby.  He is a boy at the present, but most see him as a monster—except for El Patrón.  El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself because Matt is himself.

As Matt fights to understand his existence, he is threatened by a menacing cast of characters, including El Patrón’s tyrannical family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards.  Escape Matt’s only chance for survival.  But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no promise of independence because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he does not recognize.

Find The House of the Scorpion in the catalog!

Uglies

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Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Format: book
Who it’s for: teens

In a future civilization, the government offers its citizens on their sixteenth birthday dramatic plastic surgery to turn them into ‘pretties,’ who will then live a carefree life of relaxation and parties.  Tally Youngblood is eager for her modifications, but Shay, another ugly, talks to Tally about the opportunity of rebelling against the social standards of physical beauty.  On the day of Tally’s operation, she is given a proposition: assist the authorities in tracking the rebel Shay down, or never undergo the “pretty” surgery.  Tally ultimately chooses to help the authorities in pursuing the rebels.  Through some twists and turns in the story, the rebels soon reveal to Tally that the operation also contains surgery that makes them easier to control–ultimately altering their brains.  Tally and the other uglies join together to resist their transformation and to discover a remedy for those already turned ‘pretty’.

Series order:

  1. Uglies
  2. Pretties
  3. Extras
  4. Specials

Find Uglies in the catalog!

Chaos Walking Series

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Series: Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness
First Book: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Who’s it For: Teens and Adults

“My name is Todd Hewitt. My name is Todd Hewitt.”

Perhaps if Todd repeated his name, he could control his mind. He hated that his thoughts were broadcast, like every other male in Prentisstown. And animal. Todd’s dog, Manchee, frequently reported to him, “Poo, Todd. Gotta poo.”

Todd kept busy working on the farm for his two fathers, Cillian and Ben. He wasn’t really related to them. They had promised to take care of Todd years ago when his mother died of the disease. In fact, there were no females at all in Prentisstown. He vaguely recalled that his mom sang to him. He had no memory of his deceased father. Ben had a small leather diary that his mom left for Todd. Yet Todd didn’t know how to read.

One day Todd came across an injured girl who seemed to be about his age, 13.  Had she crash-landed? Strangest of all, she had no noise!  Her thoughts were completely private.  Her name was Violet.  Back at the farm, Ben shoved a sack of food, emergency supplies, a map, and the diary to Todd. “Go!”  Mayor Prentiss and a posse were galloping their way.  Todd heard gunshots.  Cillian!  “We lied. Your mother was killed by Mayor Prentiss.  Go!” What would Mayor Prentiss do if he caught them?  Todd, Violet, and Manchee, fled into the forest.  Where would they go? Why was Todd’s mother murdered?

I actually saw the movie Chaos Walking before I read the series.  The movie intrigued me.  I was thoroughly engrossed in the plight of Todd Hewitt and Violet.  I loved the humor of the talking animals, from Manchee, my favorite, to talking sheep, horses, and more.  And I appreciated Todd’s sense of honor and the bond that he and Violet developed.  Yet, life is complicated and sometimes hard choices have to be made…

Discover the first book in this trilogy here!

Upright Women Wanted

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Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
Format: Book
Who’s it for?: Adults

“Are you a coward, or are you a Librarian?”

After witnessing the public hanging of her best friend and becoming betrothed to the fiancé of her late lover, Esther Augustus runs away from home. She stows away in the Head Librarian’s book cart. She hopes to join the Librarians, a group of “chaste, morally upright women” in the hopes that their influence would rid of the wrongness she feels inside her. But Esther’s understanding of the world is proven to be naïve. Upright Women Wanted takes place somewhere in a future-America that deteriorated into the Old West. The Librarians (more like radical, gun-slinging, spies on horseback) have other plans. Plans that don’t involve the distribution of “Approved Materials”. This less-than-200-page read is, on the surface, a quick dystopian romp, but it also explores themes of coming to terms with who you are. I liked that this book was speedy read, but I certainly see the potential for more world building and character development should the author continue into a series.
Find Upright Women Wanted in the Catalog.