Led by Millions Top Tenner The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, dystopia is unseating vampires as the dominant theme in teen fiction, according to The Independent. The paper lists several other examples of the hot new trend, including Plague by Michael Grant and Matched by Ally Condie. (We’d argue that with dystopian classics like 1984 and Lord of the Flies on teen reading lists for decades, this is an old trend that’s new again.)
The Teenage Years are More Dystopian Than Ever
Know Your Book Covers
Think you know your Arthur Conan Doyle from your Agatha Christie? This week, The Guardian quizzes you on the book covers of classic crime novels. In case you missed it, previous weeks featured science fiction and literary classics.
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World Cup of Literature
Three Percent is organizing a “World Cup of Literature” to coincide with the international soccer tournament’s June 12th beginning. The rules are simple: literature from each of the 32 countries in the actual World Cup will be put into a “32-book knock-out tournament,” and “each ‘match’ will pit two books against one another and will be judged by one of … fifteen illustrious judges.” Who’s your early favorite? (Bonus: “What happened when 10 European poets were asked to portray their home country in verse ahead of the European elections?”)
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Queer Literature’s Role in the Revolution
David Canfield hosted a virtual discussion on the future of queer literature with Naoise Dolan, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Akwaeke Emezi, and Garth Greenwell.
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The Broken Novel
Literary fiction is falling apart, but it might be for the best, Ted Gioia writes. In his essay, he explores the history of the fragmented novel (or the polyphonic novel as we’ve written about before) from Winesburg, Ohio to A Visit From the Goon Squad and fittingly, he does it in fragments.
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Do Not Lick the Books
Designboom has your library porn for the day. Pair with Daniel Penev‘s appreciation of public libraries the world ’round.
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Poetry After the Windfall
The Chicago Tribune looks at Poetry magazine ten years after the tiny publication received an astonishing $200 million donation. How’s the magazine doing? “The answer is complicated.”
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Dystopian novels are defintely the new “it” for young adults. Its about time too, I couldn’t stand seeing a new series about vampires. I think dystopian is a great genre for young people because it forces them to reflect on the society they live in, which is important contemplation for young people before they step out into the world.
Interesting timing – as I read and reviewed The Hunger Games just last night after much prodding from friends. That book is still getting lots of publicity and play. I was not at all impressed, but I agree that there are a lot of wonderful things for young adults to take from these post-Apocalyptic stories. While I think young people reading anything at all, even if it’s Twilight and the like, is a beautiful, wonderful thing – if authors manage to entertain AND provoke thoughtful discussion, all the better.