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What Are The Best Young Adult Dystopian Novels?
Many young adults are drawn to dystopian novels because they offer a glimpse into a world that may be possible in the future.
While their content can cause anxiety for some readers, dystopian novels for young adults can also provide a kind of therapeutic benefit–a kind of practice–for visualizing and navigating an uncertain world. They also often center a younger person as a central character (compared to adults)–a teenager, for example, empowered to solve crucial challenges and overcome obstacles in order to persevere fantastically cataclysmic circumstances.
Below is a collection of some of the most popular young adult dystopian novels available today.
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44 Thrilling Dystopian Novels For Teen Readers
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An Ember In The Ashes (Book 1 of 4: An Ember In The Ashes series) by Sabaa Tahir
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Battle Royale: The Novel by Koushun Takami
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Blindness (Book 1 of 2: Blindness series) by Jose Saramago
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Bluescreen (Book 1 of 3: Mirador series) by Dan Wells
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Brave New Girl (Book 1 of 2: Brave New Girl series) by Rachel Vincent
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Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
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Diverse Energies by Paolo Bacigalupi, Ursula K. Le Guin & Malinda Lo
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Dry by Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman
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Maze Runner (Book 1 of 5: The Maze Runner series) by James Dashner
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Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
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Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
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Oryx and Crake (Book 1 of 3: MaddAddam Trilogy) by Margaret Atwood
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Parable of the Sower (Book 1 of 2: Parable series) by Octavia Butler
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Ready Player One (Book 1 of 2: Ready Player One series) by Ernest Cline
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Scythe (Book 1 of 3: Arc of a Scythe series) by Neal Shusterman
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Shatter Me (Book 1 of 6: Shatter Me series) by Tahereh Mafi
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Skyward (Book 1 of 3: The Skyward Series) by Brandon Sanderson
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The Darkest Minds (Book 1 of 4: The Darkest Minds series) by Alexandra Bracken
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The Hunger Games (Book 1 of 4: The Hunger Games series) by Suzanne Collins
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The Program (Book 1 of 6: The Program series) by Suzanne Young
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The Testing (Book 1 of 3: The Testing trilogy) by Joelle Charbonneau
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The 100 (Book 1 of 4: The 100 series) by Kass Morgan
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Uglies (Book 1 of 4: The Uglies series) by Scott Westerfeld
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Under the Never Sky (Book 1 of 3: Under the Never Sky series) by Veronica Rossi
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Way Down Dark (Book 1 of 3: The Australia trilogy) by James P. Smythe
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