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By: Caroline Freeman 9/17/26
Dystopian is a genre of book series that usually takes place in future societies, has rebellions in it and high stakes. The top 3 best books in this genre are The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner.
The cover of the first Hunger Games book
The Hunger Games takes place in Panem(North America). Panem has 12 districts, with District 1, also known as the Capitol, being the richest, while District 12 is the poorest. Every year there is something called the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is where 24 children are sent to an arena for a fight to the death. Each district has to send 1 boy and 1 girl to go to the Hunger Games, ages ranging from 12-18 years old. The protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, is from District 12 and is sent to the Hunger Games[a] in place of her sister. She is the protagonist of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. She sparks a rebellion against the Capitol after winning the 74th Hunger Games. There are 2 prequels in The Hunger Games called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which shows the past of President Snow, the main villain, and Sunrise on the Reaping, which follows Haymitch, a past District 12 victor. Most of the books have movies you can stream on Netflix. The Hunger Games is written by Suzanne Collins.
The next book is called Divergent. In Divergent, people are divided into 5 factions, each having their own virtue, like bravery or selflessness. When teens turn 16 years old, they can choose to either stay in the faction they were born in or change it. The main character, Beatrice, comes from Abnegation (the selfless faction) chooses something that surprises herself. With the others who also made her choice she has to survive severe challenges while trying to find out who her friends are and what she's willing to risk. The divergent book series has a total of 4 books, one of them being a prequel while the other 3 are part of the main trilogy. Divergent is written by Veronica Roth, the main trilogy books all have a movie. A 7th grader named Hope Meier says, “I like it because it's a sci-fi, which is one of my favorite genres, and because Tris has to make an impossible decision that will define her future and she becomes stronger and more confident.”
The Maze Runner is a series with 10 total books that include prequels and a spin-off series called The Maze Cutter. The Maze Runner is about a bunch of boys who wake up in the lift (a metal elevator) with all their memories gone. The main character, Thomas, is one of the boys who woke up in the lift. Outside of the lift is a limitless maze that's the only way out, but anyone who's gone in has never come out. Every week new supplies come through the lift to help them survive. A review on Goodreads of the books says that “I can say that I really enjoyed “The Maze Runner” and that I’m already looking forward to read “The Scorch Trials.” The first three books all have movies and The Maze Runner is written by James Dashner.
a picture of the Divergent book from the official website
These three dystopian books are all amazing books to read if you are looking for a new series to read or just want some AR points, with the books ranging from 15-24 points. These books do have mentions of death but they are all ages 12-13 and above.
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