When you are having difficulty drawing or painting from a photograph, it sometimes helps to turn your photo reference upside down so you can “see” the shapes and colors in a fresh way. Reading Dystopian Fiction does that for me. It turns my worldview, my assumptions about our culture, and how to live life, upside down so I can think and perceive from a new angle, without the distortion imposed by familiarity.
I recently finished The Matched trilogy by Allie Condie. This series, at its core, is about choices: who we love, how we live, risk versus safety, and the cost of giving up, or keeping, our creativity and freedom. With its lyrical writing, love triangle, (Xander/Cassia/Ky), and the questions above lived out by Cassia, the Matched trilogy has much to offer for teens and adults. The audio books are also well done and made my commutes to work an otherworldly adventure. (Wait, …was that a stop sign back there?)
A 24/7 book club!
These are the books that leave you dying to discuss them …..even if it is 3a.m. when you finish reading! Now, you CAN do that, with our CCLD online book club!
Or, go to the CCLD library home page (www.ccld.lib.ny.us) and click on “join our online book club”
Go to the Teen thread to talk about dystopian fiction, check out this month’s reading challenge under the thread of that name, see what’s new in fiction and discuss! With this 24/7 CCLD book club, I love that I can finally be part of a book group and talk to my bookworm friends despite my crazy work schedule. I’m sure many of you can relate. Sign in, (it is FREE), check us out, and tell us what books are turning YOUR world upside down!
Try these other dystopian reads (they are good in audio, too!):
The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
Doris Jean Metzger, MLIS
Van Etten Library