Desiring Dystopia...exploring post-apocalyptic literature.

dystopia

-noun

1. a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding


2. an imaginary place or state in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror

Inspired by Suzanne Collins' novel The Hunger Games, the teens at the Brownell Library have been actively discussing survivial and humanity in post-apocalyptic societies.

If you are desiring dystopia...here are some titles you might want to check out:

Young Adult Titles:

Anderson, M. T. ...Feed

Burgess, Melvin...Bloodsong

Carman, Patrick...Atherton, the House of Power & others

Collins, Suzanne...The Hunger Games & Catching Fire

Devita, James...The Silenced

DuPrau, Jeanne...The City of Ember

Farmer, Nancy...The House of the Scorpion

Goodman, Allegra...The Other Side of the Island

Haddix, Margaret Peterson...Among the Hidden & others in the Shadow Children series

Lowry, Lois...The Giver

Machale, D. J. ...The Merchant of Death

Marsden, John...Tomorrow When the War Began & others in the Tomorrow Series

Moore, Alan...V for Vendetta

Ness, Patrick...The Chaos Walking Series

Nix, Garth...Shade's Children

Rosoff, Meg...How I Live Now

Westerfield, Scott...Uglies

Adult Titles:

Atwood, Margaret...Oryx and Crake: a novel

Atwood, Margaret...The Handmaid's Tale

Bradbury, Ray...The Martian Chronicles

Bradbury, Ray...Fahrenheit 451

Burgess, Anthony...A Clockwork Orange

Gaiman, Neil...Good Omens: the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter, witch

Garland, Alex...The Beach

Golding, William...Lord of the Flies

Huxley, Aldous...Brave New World

James, P. D. ...The Children Men

Koontz, Dean R. ...The Taking

LeGuin, Ursula...The Dispossessed: an ambigous Utopia

McCarthy, Cormac...The Road

Orwell, George...1984: a novel

Vonnegut, Kurt...Galapagos: a novel

Some Great Reads from our Great Teens

Come see what everyone is reading!

Here are some amazing suggestions from our teens.

Jodi Picoult
Vanishing Acts
F Picoult

Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book

YA Gaiman DCF

Julie Anne Peters
Keeping You a Secret

Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

John Green
Paper Towns
YA Green

Chris Bohjalian

Midwives

F Bohjalian

Markus Zusak
I am the Messenger
YA Zusak GMBA

A.S. Byatt

Possession

F Byatt

Julia Butterfly Hill

The Legacy of Luna

Julie Anne Peters

Luna

YA Peters GMBA

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Good Omens

F Gaiman

John Green

An Abundance of Katherines

YA Green GMBA

Julie Otsuka

When the Emperor was Divine

F Otsuka

YA Otsuka GMBA

Neal Shusterman

Everlost

YA Shusterman

Julie Anne Peters

Define Normal

Gabrielle Zevin

Elsewhere

YA Zevin

Frank McCourt

Angela's Ashes

920 MCC

Cassandra Clare

City of Glass

Neil Gaiman

Anansi Boys

F Gaiman

YA Gaiman GMBA

We had an amazing summer!

Our teens read close to 1,000 books, participated in record numbers in programs and volunteer work! We laughed, painted, wrote, played, acted, improvised, LARPed, discussed, watched, read, read, read, crafted, Moo Gong Doed, Downward Dogged, Slammed, Duct Taped, had tea, dressed up, strutted, and had an

all-out amazing time.

Read Between the Lines-Teen Blackout Poetry

the first time he found her
admit it, whispers to you
yes, it works for anything
yes...it works for anything
night began and changed forever
one, under the rain, would let her sleep
drowsiness rustled...
from one book to another,
she already knew the story.
light had matches
hidden
forbidden
candles didn't like fire.
books could keep an eye on flames
loved by candlelight
the windowsill was holding black wicks
footsteps blew out the years
wet with rain
she saw the darkness
little more than a shadow
clung to the rain
falling on him
motionless
over his chest
he kept staring at her heart.

war

not at all unthinkable

war can never end

existence depends on war

moving...to protect

we are a warrior people

and

the war goes on

for a generation now

battle with machines of the land

the winners are at risk

all by themselves

just a game

no...it's war

we fight the passions of outsiders

one day his army will be the sole ruler

we all believe it

even if we stopped.

I'm so happy
I'm going to scratch my eyes out.
I'M AN EMERGENCY -
naked underneath this scummy shower curtain
My DNA's a lifetime
behind the door...
on the phone...
When we met, the world got so clear
...a fork tinging against a glass in Mozambique.
my head could explode
My name...just a normal girl
Nobody can do anything.
I can't talk about any of it.
I'd nver go back.
Remember, kid?
That was me...this grimy window.
For days...wondering why.
No matter.
And I haven't talked to anyone.
I'm heading somewhere.

whip, and felix did too

subtle

behave ourselves, ladies

tripped...fragile...little arms straightened up

swirling through the alley

alone

into the square

mother gently looked away

into the plaza

on Edward

quietly, no one sighed privately

I was very conscious

worse, eighteen never would be
I almost surprised myself
impending wrinkles in my ivory skin
if I could relax my anxious brown eyes
it was just a nightmare
I skipped in a hurry to avoid acting cheerful
but every time I had to smile,
it felt like I might start crying.
I couldn't feel anything but despair until...
Ed...
polished marble.
The dream was waiting.
Despair vanished
Wonder took a year

I still deserved this good fortune.

the heart might be filled with pride

happier than smiling air

swimming to him

I need to understand

moving down
toward the bottom of the much in which they live
which is toxic to them
living in mud
magnetic poles at their front ends
directing them down into the sediment
unhealthful for them
magnetic equator
equally prevalent
guided horizontally
harmful upward movement
In the laboratory, you can change
reversing the poles on their compass needles
don't complain
aim for the opposite
living organisms, including humans
magnetic compounds of iron
anatomy
biocompasses for navigation
for example
homing pigeons and honeybees
simply by-products of metabolism
fossilized fraction in sedimentary rocks
after the rocks were formed, igneous rocks
lava, fossil
history
continents and oceans

forced back past the pool into the creek bed

against a high gravel bank

protected on three sides

face the front

the wolves drew back

tongues

were out and lolling

white fangs showing cruelly in the moonlight

one wolf advanced

and recognized the wild brother

an old wolf came forward

writhed his lips into a snarl

but sniffed noses with him

the wolf sat pointed nose at the moon

and howled

the call came

half-friendly, half-savage

the leaders sprang away into the woods

wolves swung in

yelping yelping

Ghost Dog the head of the pack

running stealing fierce robbing slaying

if you're attracted, it's hard to keep your feet off the ground

Jaws stopped rising

he started to rise again

pulling something up

strictly speaking

always require you to keep watching

systems like this

And...they're important

to commercial service

it's your electric meter-

a world divided
through dirt and mud
blurring everything
twigs snap and splinter underneath
Feel my DNA
Nothing you can do
Love is dangerous...
It's something to run away from
...swallow the sun...
but when she got too close the edge ran away
escaping - the ones,
the uniformed ones who spoke in a hard language
nailed
curling in the sun
salted tongue
until she made it, finally, to here where I'm from
She hid, creeping out from the woods
like she grew there
tangled and clotted with mud
walked around with a tiny girl caught inside them
blow up and keep inside
this girl grew and shot out
everything good dies fast
everything rottern always lasts
weeds shoot up everywhere and eat the grass.

451 Reasons Why...

Friday, March 20, 6:30-8:30pm

Can a book be a weapon?
If so, should it be destroyed?

Come debate these and other questions of censorship in an interactive mock town meeting.

All ages welcome!
For questions, call 878-6856.

Here are some awesome book suggestions from Brownell Library teens!

Warriors
by Erin Hunter

Skinny Legs and All
by Tom Robbins

Project X
by Jim Shepard

Edgar Allan Poe:

Tales of Mystery and Madness
illustrated by Gris Grimly

My Sister's Keeper
by Jodi Picoult

The Da Vinci Code

by Dan Brown

Crank

by Ellen Hopkins

Breakfast of Champions

by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Salem Falls

by Jodi Picoult

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

The Navigator

by Eoin McNamee

Elsewhere

by Gabrielle Zevin

Blue is for Nightmares

by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator

by Jennifer Allison

Here are some of the amazing books our teens are reading!!!

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street,

by Jeanne Birdsall, JF BIRDSALL

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal,

by Jeff Kenny, JF KENNY DCF

Lord of the Flies,

by William Golding, F GOLDING

Son of a Witch,

by Gregory Maguire, YA MAGUIRE

Princess Ben,

by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, YA MURDOCK

The Other Side of Truth,

by Beverley Naidoo, YA NAIDOO

Tamar,

by Mal Peet, YA PEET

Nineteen Minutes,

by Jodi Picoult, F PICOULT

The True Meaning of Smekday,

by Adam Rex, JF REX DCF

Persepolis,

by Marjane Satrapi, YA 741.5 SAT GMBA

Deep Down Popular,

by Phoebe Stone, JF STONE

Blankets,

by Craig Thompson, YA 741.5 THO

Join us for our monthly Middle School Readers and Writers Club and our High School Book Lust/Loathe Club! Call 878-6956 or email Kat at kredniss@sover.net for details!

Debate Time!!!

Debate
Extravaganza
Monday
Oct. 27, 6:30pm

Get a team of 2 to 4 people

together to participate in our
all-ages debate
tournament. Teams can be made up of any combinations of ages or skill levels.
Register and pick up your topic list by
Oct 22 at the youth desk

or call 878-6956.