Thursday, August 30, 2007

Top 10 dystopian novels for teenagers

Gemma Malley is the author of The Declaration, a futuristic, dystopian novel set in a world in which there are drugs which stop the onset of aging and there's no room left in the world for youth. With death no longer inevitable, children become an abomination and those that are accidentally born must live locked away in a borstal-like Surplus Hall. It is published in the U.S. by Bloomsbury and is scheduled for release in October.

She complied a "top 10 dystopian novels for teenagers" list for the Guardian.

One title from Malley's list:
The Children's Story by James Clavell

I'm ashamed to say that I borrowed this book from my school library when I was nine and never returned it. In my defence, it's one of the most chilling books I've ever read. Set in a classroom, it shows how susceptible young minds are, how vulnerable, how easy to control. In a few short pages (and just 25 minutes), a silky voiced teacher succeeds in brainwashing a classroom of children, turning them against their country, against their parents, against basic freedoms. As the book's blurb says, The Children's Story is not just for children...
Check out which title ranked at the top of the list.

--Marshal Zeringue