It’s the End of the World as We Know It

Novels of Disaster, Dystopia and Apocalypse for Teens

*Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. (1979)—Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised “Guide.” Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

*Adlington, L.J. The Diary of Pelly D. (2005)—When Toni V, a construction worker on a futuristic colony, finds the diary of a teenage girl whose life has been turned upside-down by holocaust-like events, he begins to question his own beliefs.

*Anderson, M.T. Feed. (2002)—In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.

*Armstrong, Jennifer. Fire-Us Trilogy (The Kindling, Keepers of the Flame, The Kiln). (2002)—When Toni V, a construction worker on a futuristic colony, finds the diary of a teenage girl whose life has been turned upside-down by holocaust-like events, he begins to question his own beliefs.

Blackman, Malorie. Naughts and Crosses (or Black and White). (2005)—In a world where the pale-skinned Naughts are discriminated against by the politically and socially powerful dark-skinned Crosses, teenagers Callum—a Naught—and Sephy—a Cross—test whether their love is strong enough to survive their society’s racism.

*Clements, Andrew. Things Not Seen. (2002)—When fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused his condition and how to revise it.

DeVita, James. The Silenced. (2007)—Consigned to a prison-like Youth Training Facility because of her parents’ political activities, Marena organizes a resistance movement to combat the restrictive policies of the ruling Zero Tolerance party.

*Farmer, Nancy. House of the Scorpion. (2002)—In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.

*Frank, Pat. Alas, Babylon. (1959). A classic tale of the unthinkable—a nuclear holocaust in the United States. This is the story of survivors in a small Florida town.

*Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden. (1998)—In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family’s farm, until another “third” convinces him that the government is wrong.

*Hautman, Pete. Rash. (2006)—In a future society that has decided it would “rather be safe than free,” sixteen-year-old Bo’s anger control problems land him in a tundra jail where he survives with the help of his running skills and an artificial intelligence program named Bork.

*Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. (1946)—the story of a futuristic World State where all emotion, love, art, and human individuality have been replaced by social stability.

Keaney, Brian. Jacob’s Ladder. (2007)—When Jacob wakes up in the middle of a field, he realizes that the only thing he remembers is his name, and when he arrives at a nearby town he becomes aware that everyone there is also suffering from amnesia.

Kehret, Peg. Escaping the Giant Wave. (2003)— When an earthquake creates a tsunami while thirteen-year-old Kyle is babysitting his sister during a family vacation at a Pacific Coast resort, he tries to save himself, his sister, and a boy who has bullied him for years.

King, Stephen. The Stand. (1978)—King’s apocalyptic vision of the world, when a deadly virus runs amok around the globe. But that lethal virus is almost benign compared to the satanic force gathering minions from those still alive to destroy humanity and create a world populated by evil.

Lawrence, Michael. A Crack in the Line (sequels: Small Eternities, The Underwood Sea)— Sixteen-year-old Alaric discovers how to travel to an alternate reality, where his mother is alive and his place in the family is held by a girl named Naia.

*Levitin, Sonia. The Goodness Gene. (2005)— As son of the Compassionate Director of the Dominion of the Americas, Will, along with his twin brother Berk, has been groomed for leadership in a society that values genetic fitness, but he encounters information which causes him to question that society as well as his own identity.

*Lewis, Richard. The Killing Sea. (2006)— In the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in Sumatra, two teenagers, American Sarah and Acehnese Ruslan, meet and continue together their arduous climb inland, where Ruslan hopes to find his father and Sarah seeks a doctor for her brother.

*Lowry, Lois. The Giver. (1993)—Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in the community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

*Marsden, John. Tomorrow, When the War Began. (1993)—Seven Australian teenagers return from a camping trip in the bush to discover that their country has been invaded and they must hide to stay alive.

McNaughton, Janet. The Secret Under My Skin. (2005)— In the year 2368, humans exist under dire environmental conditions and one young woman, rescued from a workcamp and chosen for a special duty, uses her love of learning to discover the truth about the planet's future and her own dark past.

Nelson, O.T. The Girl who Ownded a City. (1975)—When a plague sweeps over the Earth killing everyone except children under twelve, ten-year-old Lisa organizes a group to rebuild a new way of life.

*Nix, Garth. Shade’s Children. (1997)—In a savage post-nuclear world, four young fugitives attempt to overthrow the bloodthirsty rule of the Overlords with the help of Shade, their mysterious mentor.

*Pfeffer, Susan Beth. Life as We Knew It. (2006)—Through journal entries, sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family’s struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

*Rosoff, Meg. How I Life Now. (2004)—To get away from her pregnant stepmother in New York City, fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to England to stay with her aunt and cousins, with who she instantly bonds, but soon war breaks out and rips apart the family while devastating the land.

Shusterman, Neal. Everlost. (2006)—When Nick and Allie are killed in a car crash, they end up in Everlost, or limbo for lost souls, where although Nick is satisfied, Allie will stop at nothing—even skinjacking—to break free.

*Shusterman, Neal. Unwind. (2007)— n a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives “unwound” and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs—and, perhaps, save their own lives.

Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat’s Cradle. (1963)—Filled with humor and unforgettable characters, this apocalyptic story tells of Earth’s ultimate end, and presents a vision of the future that is both darkly fantastic and funny, as Vonnegut weaves a satirical commentary on modern man and his madness.

*Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies (sequels: Pretties, Extras). (2005)—In Tally’s world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. But does turning pretty have an ugly side?

*Zevin, Gabrielle. Elsewhere. (2005)—After fifteen-year-old Liz hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in Elsewhere, a place that is both like and unlike Earth. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. Somehow, she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to “live.”

*Included in the Belmont Collection