Understanding the Appeal of Dystopian Young Adult Fiction

Abstract

Bestseller and teen choice lists of the last few years have seen numerous dystopian novels in their ranks—from the Hunger Games series to the Matched trilogy and numerous stand-alone titles. Tapping into a long tradition in literature hallmarked by works such as Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World, dystopian fiction seems to have found a home in the growing body of young adult (YA) literature. The rising popularity of dystopian fiction for teens has attracted even the attention of the New Yorker and the New York Times (Miller, 2010; Baciga- lupi, et al., 2010). While dystopian works have been a part of YA literature since Lowry’s The Giver and Sleator’s House of Stairs, they have experienced a resurgent popularity in the past few years.