Todays blog post has been written by the lovely Julie ( Happy Birthday), who among many of her varied interests loves reading. This year I have challenged myself to read teen fiction and Julie and I have had some great chats about this. As her role as a librarian Julie has recommended a few of the teen fiction books that I have read. Therefore, it seemed fitting to ask Julie if she would consider writing some blog posts on books/reading, and sharing that information with my blog readers. I am pleased to say she said yes. So without further ado I will hand you over to Julie.
What’s HOT in Teen Fiction?
For a long time it was all about the Vampires – The Twilight series (of course), Vampire Academy’s, Vampire Kisses, Vampire Diaries …… and many, many more.
At the moment what are HOT are Dystopian & Utopian novels. You might be saying “Say what Julie?” Think the Hunger Games & you are part way there 
Dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state. So these books tend to have the theme of societies that may be ‘policed’ by a higher power with power over people, they may have a lot of technology in them and they may have people that are alienated and where people cannot ‘be themselves.’
Some dystopian novels are:
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
Divergent & Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Matched, Crossed & Reached by Ally Condie
The Glimpse by Claire Merle
Pure by Julianna Baggot
Variant by Robson Wells
Tomorrow when the war began by James Marsden
This is not a new concept though. Some of the classics such as 1984 & Animal Farm by George Orwell and Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess are also classed as dystopian.
So if Dystopia is a repressive state than Utopia is the opposite. It is an ideal community or society with a perfect social/political/legal system.
Some utopian novels are:
The Giver, Gathering Blue & Messenger by Lois Lowry
Juno of Taris, Fierce September & Heart of Danger by Fleur Beale **NZ Author**
I really enjoy reading some teen books. They tend to be quite easy and quick to read with stories that are not too complex but are still great reads though.
Have you read any great ‘teen books’?
Thanks to Janine for the opportunity to be a guest poster. We are hoping to make this a regular feature so if there is anything book related you would like me to touch on or a book you might like me to review (or one that you think I MUST read) please let me know.
I love Christopher paolini and his books on the last dragon rider. The Inheritance series and I love Artimus Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. I brought these for my kids and ended up reading the rest of the series before I would give them the books lol.
My daughter and I have just finished The 10pm Question by Kate de Goldi. A NZ author. Wonderful read! My daughter doesn’t like dystopia genre and all that. Hates vampires etc so is actually quite hard to find appropriate and interesting books for her. Would love to hear other suggestions too.
Will add those books to my list Rachel
How old is your daughter Carmel? Would she be reading teen books or younger?
Oooh I feel a little more educated now … gonna use the word dystopia in conversation now! I quite enjoyed the dystopian novel Delirium by Lauren Oliver …
Julie my daughter is just 14
Mr 12 adores the Cherub series by Robert Muchamore. Mr 12 is an avid reader and this is a great series for teen boys. In the past it was always hard to find books for boys but there is so mcuh out there at the moment – great to see.