Why Dystopian Reads May Be Good For Teens

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Credit Emalord via Flickr Creative Commons

Most of us read 1984 and Lord of the Flies in high school, but the new dystopian novel has grown in popularity beyond the required reading list to include a new generation of young fans.  David Sobel looks at the legion of apocryphal novels set in worlds devastated by wars and environmental collapse now aimed at teens as emblematic of a rising tide of hopelessness. He is a member of the senior faculty at Antioch New England, and his article “Feed the Hunger” was published in the November-December issue of Orion magazine.

Produced by Bill Barry