Newbery Award | Musings of the Monster Librarian

The Chosen One: YA Dystopias @ your library

So, it has come to my attention that Divergent, based on Veronica Roth’s YA novel of the same name, is coming soon to theaters. In fact, Barnes and Noble has put out a list of suggested teen reads to try out as fans of the books await the movie. I know Divergent is part of an incredibly popular series, but the thing that strikes me about it the most is its emphasis on choosing a life path. This actually isn’t an uncommon theme in teen and tween literature, and it’s central to the plot of some really excellent books (and some others that aren’t so great, but I digress). It’s absolutely worth it to check them out.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

You can’t go wrong with this Newbery Award winner that tells the story of Jonas, living in a future utopian society, who is chosen, in a ceremony with his peers where they are all assigned jobs for their adult lives, to be the Receiver of Memories, the one person allowed to know the memories of the past in human history. It’s not as action-oriented as Divergent, but packs a much more powerful and memorable emotional punch. The Giver is part of a four-book series, but the first is the best and definitely stands alone. A movie based on the book is due out later this year.

The City of Ember by Jeanne duPrau

The city of Ember is an underground city built as a last refuge in a world about to be annihilated by nuclear weapons. Two hundred years later, everything, from food to electricity, is running out. After the ceremony where Lina and Doon, along with their peers, are assigned their future careers, the two of them trade places, and discover a puzzling mystery they must solve to save the residents of Ember from darkness. This has more action than The Giver, and more of a mystery at its center, and is a compelling read even for those of us well over the target age range. The City of Ember is also part of a series, and all of them are great reads. It has been made into a movie already, with Bill Murray as the corrupt mayor. and I really enjoyed it.

Enclave by Ann Aguirre

This is the first book in the Razorland trilogy, and it’s quite a bit more graphic than the first two books, probably on par with Divergent. In yet another post-apocalyptic underground world (one decidedly more primitive than Ember) Deuce goes through her naming ceremony and becomes a Hunter in her enclave, a sort of tribal society. As a Hunter, Deuce is supposed to find and catch food and rid the tunnels around her enclave of Freaks, ravening zombie-like creatures. Although she’s a believer in the way things work in her enclave, her exposure to a wider world and a partner who’s not so convinced lead her to question the actions of her leaders.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

A science fiction thiller told from the point of view of two teenagers– Amy, the only person not specifically chosen for a role in settlement of a new planet, and Elder, whose future leadership of the spaceship Godspeed was chosen early in his life. There’s mystery, cloning, genetic and hormonal manipulation, general lying and betrayal, and a surprising amount of action given that this all takes place in a closed environment. There’s suicide, near-rape, and euthanasia in this book, among other things, although I think Revis handles it all pretty well. The target audience for Divergent should enjoy this.

Legend by Marie Lu

June is the elite of the elite, being groomed for a position high up in the military in a dystopian society that’s more or less under military rule. Day is a rebel trying to undermine it. What could possibly go wrong when their lives intersect?

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Here’s one that’s interesting because almost everyone is chosen, eventually. It’s not wanting to be chosen that makes Tally stick out. Or, to make it more complicated, it’s wanting to be chosen but having to pretend she doesn’t want to be chosen and standing out as special when she wants to blend in. And then changing her mind. And changing it again. While it could stand alone, I think, it’s a good thing it’s part of a series because I have no clue where it’s going to end up. Westerfeld pretty much turns the tropes on their heads.

Enjoy!x

A Tribute to E.L. Konigsburg

I was saddened to hear of the death of the great children’s and YA novelist, E.L. Konigsburg. While she’s probably best known for her Newbery Award winning novel From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, she also wrote many other powerful novels, and she is the only author to have won both a Newbery Award and a Newbery Honor (for Jennifer, Hecate, William McKinley, Macbeth, and Me, Elizabeth) in the same year (1968). She also won a Newbery for The View from Saturday in 1997. I discovered and read her books when I was in elementary school and junior high and never really stopped, and as both a children’s librarian and a reader, I’ve never truly put them away again.

I scraped together my pennies to buy (George), the story of a highly gifted child with an imaginary friend– who may or may not really be imaginary. I journeyed to an 800 number with the buttoned-up Maximilian, on his erratic travels across the country with his father (and a camel). I discovered the imperfect life and loves of Eleanor of Aquitaine in A Proud Taste of Scarlet and Miniver. I wondered who the mysterious Caroline really was in Father’s Arcane Daughter.

Years later, the mystery and horror at the heart of Silent to the Bone mesmerized me (it is a horrifying enough story that we’ve reviewed it here). Margaret, a minor character in that book, is the hero in The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place, a story of hope, love, and change. Of course, the award winners are wonderful books as well, and From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is the one everyone remembers, but with stories that ranged from quirky, funny, and fantastic to touching, thoughtful, mysterious, and even terrifying (sometimes in the same book), there were many choices.

I’m thankful for every time I read something she had written and felt that click that said “that’s me!” For every time she introduced me to someone who lived life in a very different way, or made an escape possible for me without my having to run off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to change my life. Even if E.L. Konigsburg isn’t an author who touched your life, if you are a book lover (and you probably are, if you’re reading this) there probably is an author who did. Today is a good day to remember the door to books that author opened to you.