Good News about Dystopias

 

Dys + (u)topia.  According to www.dictionary.com  (Based on The American Heritage Dictionary, 2009), a dystopia is “an imaginary place…where life is extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror.” So why would anyone want to read about them? What makes them – actually – fascinating? 
If they’re  like the books on the list put together by [...]

It’s Earth Day

According to the Library of Congress website, “Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970, when an estimated 20 million people nationwide attended the inaugural event.  Senator Gaylord Nelson promoted Earth Day, calling upon students to fight for environmental causes and oppose environmental degradation with the same energy that they displayed in opposing the [...]

Back to the Future

Last week, I posted a list of dystopic fiction that you all might enjoy reading in conjunction with The Giver.  Today, I was reading John Scalzi’s blog Whatever, and he reminded me of another booklist I wanted to make.
In today’s post, Scalzi writes about why today’s teens and tweens aren’t reading what us adult science [...]

Give it up for “The Giver”!

Each year, the Allegheny Carnegie Library Association selects one book that will be widely read throughout the community — or, “One Book, One Community.”  This year’s selection is Lois Lowry’s classic dystopic novel for teens, The Giver.  If you’re not familiar with The Giver, here’s the description from our catalog: ” Given his lifetime [...]

Scalzi and Doctorow: Two Great Tastes, Taste Great Together

A coworker sent me a couple videos that I wanted to share: Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother (the 2nd best book I’ve read this year), and John Scalzi, author of Zoe’s Tale (the 3rd best book I’ve read this year), talking about their books, their blogs, and their pranks, including taping bacon to cats.  [...]

Need2Read

If Jenna Fox was simply a clone, her whole existence might be easier to accept. After a tragic accident lands her in a coma for a year, she wakes up to discover that in order to save her life, the doctors had to take extreme measures.
Find out what science may have in store for us [...]