DuPrau, Jeanne. The City of Ember. Random House, 2003. ISBN 978-0375822735. Ages 9-12.

241 years ago, a city was created to save a race of people. A city designed to last 220 years. Now Ember is a dying city, threatened by eternal darkness as the city’s decrepit electric system begins to fail. With food and supplies becoming scarce as well, and a corrupt mayor who likes his position a little too much, it seems as though there is no hope. So when Lina finds her baby sister chewing on a piece of paper that looks like directions out of the isolated city, she teams up with her friend Doon to try and decipher the few words and letters that are still legible on the page. Together they discover the city’s long lost history and secrets regarding the purpose of Ember and why the Builders designed it. But can they really find a way out and save the citizens of Ember, and is it possible with the mayor and his guards watching their every move?

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic, 2008. ISBN 978-0439023481. Ages 12-14.

In the future, the United States has been replaced by Panem, a collection of 12 different districts ruled over by the Capitol. As punishment for districts rebelling in the past, Panem holds an annual televised reality show called the Hunger Games. Here, each district must send one boy and one girl to compete to the death, for only one teen can survive and win the game. District 12’s Katniss finds herself competing after volunteering to take her little sister’s place, and things get complicated when Peeta, District 12’s other competitor, confesses his love for her.

Pfeffer, Susan Beth. Life As We Knew It. Harcourt, Inc., 2006. ISBN 0152058265. Ages 12-14.

Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. This is a harrowing account of a catastrophic event through the eyes of a teenager. Throughout the story the reader sees glimpses of Miranda trying to be a normal teenager despite having to watch her world crumble around her. Older tween readers will find the idea of an asteroid doing such damage both fascinating and sobering. They will also relate to Miranda's questions of whether a God exists, feelings of responsibility for her family, and dealing with the repercussions of her parents' divorce.

Kenan, Gil. (Director). (2008). City of Ember [Motion picture]. United States: Walden Media. Ages 9-14.

200 years ago, as the world was coming to an end, the lighted city of Ember was created deep within the Earth. The creators locked the instructions on how to one day return to the surface in a box, with the intention of populating the surface once it was safe. Now 200 years later, the box has been long forgotten and a young Messenger named Lina Mayfleet stumbles upon it. Growing up in a now-corrupt Ember full of ancient traditions and a failing generator, it is up to her and her new friend Doon to discover the meaning of the instructions and find a way out of the city of Ember. Based on the first book in the bestselling Books of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau.

Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. Simon Pulse, 2005. ISBN 978-0689865381. Ages 12-14.

In Tally’s world, no one wants to be an Ugly. So that’s why she can’t wait to turn sixteen so she can have the operation that will turn her into a Pretty. But then she meets Shay, an Ugly who would rather run away and rough it on the outside then be turned into a Pretty and move into their superficial world. Soon they meet a whole society of Uglies who inform them about the true intentions behind the Pretty operation. And when they get caught, Tally must make a life-changing decision—turn in her new friend or stay Ugly for the rest of her life.

The author's story provides a social commentary on the need to be flawless in today's society in the style of other dystopian works. Tween readers will initially be intrigued by the idea of becoming a Pretty, but will soon realize that there is more to life than image and that the power of the mind is more important and not something to be given up lightly.

Philbrick, Rodman. The Last Book in the Universe. Blue Sky Press, 2000. ISBN 0439087589. Ages 10-14.

In the backtimes, the Big Shake nearly destroyed everything. Now in this post-apocalyptic future, there is no color except grey and brown and normals live in the Urb, trapped amidst violence and despair. Against all odds, Spaz must navigate his way through the Urb’s latches, facing gangs and turf wars in order to reach his ill sister. On the way he meets Lanaya, a proov (or a genetically improved human) who lives in Eden, a paradise that lies off limits at the center of the Urb. With the help of others he meets on the way, Spaz manages to reach his sister safely, where he finds her near death. Together they work to sneak her into Eden so that she might be saved. But will a taste of paradise spoil Spaz’s fight for life in the Urb, or will it drive him to fight for something better?

Spaz exists in a world where normals are uneducated and ignorant of their past, and spend most of their time fighting to stay alive and probing their brains like dope addicts to escape the Urb and experience a taste of Eden. Because Spaz has epilepsy, he is unable to probe and thus has a unique clarity in his understanding of the world around him. It is this clarity that allows him to continue the work of his friend Ryter, to tell the story in the last book in the universe, so that others may know their past and work towards a better future. His ability to turn his disability into an advantage makes for a strong main character, and gives the reader hope when viewing such a desolate future existence.

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Bantam Books, 1993. ISBN 0553571338. Ages 12-14.

Jonas lives in a world untouched by war or famine, fear or pain. When children reach the age of twelve, the Elders ceremoniously give each child their assignment for life. A great honor, Jonas is bestowed with the assignment of receiving training from The Giver, the only one to hold the memories of how the world used to be. This knowledge does not come without a heavy price, for Jonas must be given all the memories, no matter how painful or frightening, before The Giver retires and Jonas takes over. But when the truth is too much for Jonas to bear, he must make the ultimate sacrifice in order to set things right.