Technology, Dystopia and Young Adults

This list has been updated: a newer, expanded version can be found at  http://richardshakeshaft.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/young-adult-fiction-technology-reading.html 17 February, 2017

I was recently asked about the young adult (YA) novels I have been reading as part of my academic work in Children's Literature. To that end, this is a list of the relevant novels  (in no particular order) I have read recently with the briefest of descriptions against each one. The common thread is the incorporation of technology within the novels and this frequently means they portray dystopian visions of a possible future.

There is a range of labels which could be applied to the texts (including, but not limited to, speculative science fiction, science faction, magical realism) but this is not the place for an academic discussion about that or the concept of dystopia. Rather I hope it might be a glimpse of books written in the past decade that are all worth discovering in their own ways.

All of the images link to Amazon where fuller descriptions and reviews can be found (along with the obvious ability to do some shopping!)

	Be More Chill - Ned Vizzini (2004) A teenager ingests a squip - a new organic supercomputer purchased on the black market - which advises him how to behave in order to win the girl of his dreams.
	Little Brother - Cory Doctorow (2008) Set in contemporary San Francisco, the teenager protagonist stands up for civil liberties having been falsely accused of a terrorist offence and plays a game of cat and mouse with the government in which both sides are using technology to their advantage.
	iBoy - Kevin Brooks (2010) An accident leaves the teenage protagonist with an iPhone embedded in his brain but rather than it killing him, he harnesses the iPhone's capabilities.
	Dangerous Reality - Malorie Blackman (1999) The Virtual Mobile Interactive System developed by the hero's mum is the subject of industrial espionage and people's obsession with technology is shown through their actions.
	Feed - M T Anderson (2002) In a dystopian vision of the future, everyone who's anyone is connected to the feed. The typical rich boy/poor girl story follows a teenage couple's relationship when their feeds are hacked.
	Hybrids - David Thorpe (2007) A virus infects humans causing them to fuse with an item of technology they use a lot and the resultant hybrids are feared by the uninfected humans.
	Metagame - Sam Landstrom (2010) Computer gaming becomes a way of life and the players' limits are explored in the virtual world where the winner takes all.
	Dot.Robot - Jason Bradbury (2009) Technologically proficient children are recruited to use the latest technology in a classic tale of good versus evil.
	The Game of Sunken Places - M T Anderson (2004) Two boys visit the mansion of a distant relative and their discovery of a board game leads to an adventure which takes place beyond the confines of the board.
	Skinned - Robin Wasserman (2009) A popular teenage girl is involved in a near fatal traffic accident, and her brain is downloaded and installed into a new body and she has to discover her new identity.
	ttyl - Lauren Myracle (2004) Written entirely in instant messages, the lives and loves of three girls are shown through their conversations over a few weeks.
	The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (2008) Twenty-four teenagers are selected at random and are placed into a reality TV game in which the winner is the last person alive.
	Uglies - Scott Westerfield (2005) When teenagers reach the age of sixteen they are made Pretty and they are told this is their lives' purpose. Not everyone agrees and this novel follows the story of a girl deciding to follow the rebels.
	So yesterday - Scott Westerfield (2004) This novel explores the world of following fashions and the creation of new trends in contemporary New York.