Issue One - Dystopia

Dystopian novels are crazy-hot right now, especially for teen readers. It seems like our own uncertain future has grabbed everyone’s attention and we can’t get enough of these sci-fi stories!

What exactly is a dystopian novel? Well, it’s usually about a society (often post-apocalyptic) where individuals have almost no freedom. The characters in these novels must fight against the status quo and because the authoritarian control is total, they’re always the underdog. We root for them to win in their struggle, while being thankful our world is not so harsh or creepy! In a weird way, these stories make us feel good about our future, because if they can fight, survive, and overcome, well, then so can we when we face completely normal, regular-world junk.

Sound good? They are! And, if you haven’t read one, we have plenty of suggestions for you. Happy reading!

Each month, based on our theme, we’ll pick a book and all four WRN? girlies will read it. In a chat room—sorry, not live—we’ll discuss the book and then post it to our web site for you to enjoy. Hopefully you’ll want to pick up the book and read it too. If you love it, feel free to post about it on our Facebook page. We're excited to hear your thoughts…ALWAYS!

This month we chatted about The Maze Runner by James Dashner. It’s a freaky story about a sixteen-year-old boy who has no memory and finds himself stuck in the middle of a stone maze. He and the other boys must find a way to survive--and ultimately find a way out. You will be racing to finish this incredible book.

Michelle:  OMG, whad’ya think?
Kerry:  unbelievable, and the slang…totally fun plugging in what they might have meant to say!
Michelle:  me too...but it took a while to translate!
Michelle:  made it feel like a totally different world
Kerry:  freaky world
Michelle:  definitely
Kerry:  My fav thing... how he ended each chapter
Michelle:  i didn't notice
Kerry:  I couldn't put it down. Each chapter was a cliff hanger in itself.

Carrie Ryan

Interview by Jodi Sandel Wayne

1. Of course, we want to know whatcha’ reading now?

Right now I’m reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver which is coming out from HarperCollins in March 2010. It’s about a girl who relives the last day of her live several times until she gets it right -- I’ve been totally sucked into it!

2. Our contest question of the month: Which dystopic society would you least like to live in and why?

I think I’d have to say Panem from the Hunger Games not just because you have to put your name in to compete in the Hunger Games but also because it just seems like such a hopeless world with huge disparities between the have’s and have not’s.

Candor - Pam Bachorz

WRN? Rating - FIVE STARS

Oscar Banks is a model citizen in the idyllic town of Candor, Florida, where all the teens are practically perfect—studious, neatly dressed and always, always obedient.

Or so it seems.

But something is terribly wrong in Candor. All the teens are controlled by subliminal auditory messages like Healthy breakfasts are for smart minds and The great are never late. The messages can’t be escaped. They’re played at home, school, the grocery store and even on the streets.

Oscar, the son of the town’s founder, has discovered a way to beat the system and, for a price, he’s willing to share it with teens who want to escape the town. Enter Nia Silva, a rebellious new girl in town. She awakens feelings in Oscar he doesn’t have for his heavily-programmed girlfriend, Mandi (or any of the other Candor girls for that matter). He can’t resist her playful, artistic, mouthy, flawed personality. As the relationship with Nia develops, Oscar finds himself placed into riskier and riskier situations.

Eventually, he also finds himself torn between saving Nia and saving himself from exposure.

In Candor, debut author Pam Bachorz has crafted a dystopia reminiscent of The Stepford Wives. Oscar and Nia are bright characters against the dull behavior of many others in the town. A subplot with the family back story provides a satisfying reason for why Oscar’s father created a super creepy world where control is more important than spontaneity and where perfection supersedes love.

To read other Whatcha’ Reading Now? Reviews, please visit our Amazon reviews page.

Check out WRN’s Amazon list of the hottest dystopia novels that have you turning pages after page, yet still keep you wanting more. So many wonderful books, so little time.

Fahrenheit 451 Review - ChinLin Pan

Ray Bradbury is renowned for…well, a lot of things, including one of his masterpieces—sci-fi novel Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury introduces a superficial, technology-dependent world afraid of the knowledge from books. Therefore, books are banned. Anyone who is found in possession of books, a library, etc. ends up with a mountain of ashes, for books are burned.

The protagonist—Guy Montag—is a fireman who starts fires (burning books) rather than put out fires. He loves watching the flames slowly devour the books. Montag meets a thoughtful and talkative teenage girl—Clarisse—who has a different view of the world and a curiosity that catches his attention. She speaks with love and delicacy for people and nature, and she shows Montag the joys of life.

Shortly afterward, a series of unfortunate events occur that continue to displease Montag’s life. His wife tries to kill herself, a woman caught with her library chooses to burn with her books and Clarisse is rumored to be dead. Montag begins to steal books and hides them in his home, wondering if there’s anything in them that may help him find the solution to his life. He wonders why people had begun to fear books and why others are loyal to them.

Montag questions the value of his job, his life and society in general. He looks to Faber, a retired English professor, to learn and discuss the values of books and the knowledge that books contain. Faber becomes his mentor and the two form a close bond. One day, disgusted by his wife and her friends’ conversation and typical behavior, Montag takes out a book and begins to read from it. Shortly afterward, his wife turns him in and his house is to be burned, along with all of the books he had stolen.

Montag goes on the run and seeks refuge from the crazy world he had once lived and believed in.

The first time I read this book in my 9th grade English class, I had a difficult time understanding and enjoying it. But once I reached the part where Montag is on the run, Fahrenheit 451 became a page-turner. Bradbury does a fantastic job depicting censorship and the power of questioning a disturbed society.

Montag, Clarisse and Faber are so real and true, while the rest of the world is shallow and careless. It is sad, though, that Clarisse and Faber’s appearances in the novel were somewhat brief. However, their impacts on Montag were significant.

I agree with what the book shows—that the literacy rate continues to plunge as technology satisfies and seduces us. The future depicted, as horrid as it is, may or may not happen. It makes one wonder how different the world would be without books. Hopefully, it’ll never come to that. Books are wonderful instruments of knowledge and adventure. To read them is to fuel conscience and essence.

One of the most action-packed type of contemporary novels are Dystopias—books about imaginary futuristic societies where living conditions are repressed or terrifying. Of the hundreds of dystopian YA novels out there, we’ve made a list of our top five absolute favorites to share with you. Let us know what you think…

And, as an added bonus, try our super creative writing challenge at the end.

1. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

I have to give Uglies the top spot because it is a fabulous book about a society where everyone is ugly (has the face/body they are born with) until the day they turn sixteen. At age sixteen, surgery is undergone to make everyone “pretty,” where they then spend the rest of their lives exploring fun and pleasing activities. Tally Youngblood is looking forward to being “pretty,” until she realizes that being pretty comes with a price she may not be willing to pay. Uglies is the first book in a series that continues with the books Pretties, Specials, and Extras.

2. Feed by M.T. Anderson

Feed is a great book for anyone who thinks it would be cool to have a running computer commentary in one’s brain. In this futuristic society, TV and computers are connected to a person’s brain at birth. Titus, the main character, never questions anything that comes across his feed until a fateful vacation trip to the moon introduces him to Violet, someone who thinks for herself and doesn’t just accept what the feed has to provide.

3. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In this post-apocalyptic dystopia, what’s left of the world is divided into Sections, and each year, each section must send two randomly selected “volunteers” to fight to the death for the entertainment of all. The survivor of these “Hunger Games” gets to live in a big house and be provided for. In this first installment of the series, we are introduced to Katniss, our heroine. Her younger sister is selected to be one of the representatives for their section, and Katniss takes her place. Along with Peeta, the male representative, Katniss must figure out how to survive the games to return to those she loves. The second book in the series, Catching Fire, continues the story of this dystopian society, with a third book yet to be released.

4. The Giver by Lois Lowry This novel is the story of twelve year old Jonas, who is selected to be his community’s Receiver of Memories. As Jonas receives the memories from the old Receiver, he learns his society is not as utopian as he’s been led to believe. The Memories Jonas must acquire tell him much about his hypocritical society and may be too much for young Jonas to weather.

5. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

In this classic novel, Huxley introduces readers to a future society where humans are mass produced and must stay in the class to which they are delivered. This is a tale of conflict and culture shock when into this regimented society comes John “The Savage” – a human that has lived outside this society and is now learning about it from an outsider’s point of view.

YOUR CHALLENGE:

Imagine you are writing a book that takes place in a dystopian society. In no more than 250 words, describe what your dystopia is like. How or why has it become a dystopia? What are the challenges faced by the people living there?

Be creative and have fun! Good luck!

Planning a City of Ember Party

Invitations: Make your invitations a mystery message like the one that Lina and Doon found. For example:

Invit     o    Pa ty
  u    re     vited to   City of Ember  arty at t e    blic Library Jan 30   5  p  .

Or use a font like Ransom to make it look as though the letters have been cut and pasted together. Deliver your invitations by hand like a messenger.

Decorations: Lots of brown and beige. Nothing should be very colorful. Also, mood lighting. Lights should be dim and/or flickering. Have your guests bring flashlights. Also, old gadgets and hardware would make good decorations. Think Steampunk.

Food: Canned pineapple is the best way to go! It's referenced in the book, and the cans make good decorations! Other than that, anything non-perishable is a good bet.

Activities:

Candle-making: You can either make white tapers like the ones that Lina and Doon found or try your hand at cavern candles that look like the underground city using instructions from Create Your Own Candles by Laura Check.

Boat races: Race toy boats in a small pool.

Watch the City of Ember movie.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think that the Builders had a good plan when they came up with Ember? What would you have done differently?

2. What job would you have wanted to be assigned on Assignment Day if you lived in Ember? Why?

3. Do you think that the Builders were responsible in trusting the mayor of the city with the instructions? Why or why not? Is Ember's current mayor someone who should be trusted? What would you do with the instructions if you were the Builders? If you were Lina and Doon?

4. If you were in Lizzie's position, would you accept stolen goods from Looper? Why or why not?

5.Why do you think that the Forbidden Zone is forbidden?

6.Everyone reacts to Ember's fading power in different ways. How would you react and why?

We're so excited about the launch of our web site that we've decided to give away lots of books this month. WRN? has more than 10 books ready to ship your way, including The Maze Runner and Candor from this month’s issue! Could you be one of the lucky winners? And, we're super excited to announce that our logo contest was a huge success. A fab group of local HS kids competed and we're finally ready to unveil the winning logo! Thanks Elana, your design ROCKS! We totally love it!

There are two ways to win.

1. Jump to our Facebook page and answer the question Whatcha' Reading Now? on our wall.

2. Send an email to contests@whatchareadingnow.com and and tell us Whatcha' Reading Now?

Basically, we wanna know...WHATCHA' READING NOW?

Unwind Book Discussion - Ana-Carolina Gibson

The Unwind book discussion at my school was a great success! We had over 30 teachers and students come together to eat, drink, be merry, and discuss this awesome book. For those who haven't read the book, it is set in a futuristic society where parents have the opportunity to send their misbehaving teens to a place where the teens will be "unwound". Believe me, being unwound is no fun. The doctors at the harvest camps took the teens apart and used their body parts for other people. One of the main characters, Connor, tried to escape by running away. With the help of Risa and Lev, two people he met while on the run, he plans to help any other teens he can. Even if it means he might get unwound himself.

We started off our discussion just eating and talking randomly, then we opened the discussion by asking participants which character they most identified with from the book. Some picked Connor for his inner strength. Others picked Risa for her ability to hold everyone together. Some even picked Lev for his ability to step away from what others wanted and do his own thing. Everyone's answers were different and interesting.

Next, we discussed the baby who died because of how it was passed from door step to door step, never being loved enough or wanted, and about the funeral where everyone cried and felt guilt for having a hand in that baby’s death. We also talked about the letter that Connor wrote to his parents and how it made him seem too mature, then each of us said what we would write if we were in Connor’s position and to who we would be writing to.

To sum it up, we had a very eventful book discussion and I would recommend this book to anyone from middle school on up to even any adults who like a good sci-fi book.