Book Talks to Build a Reading Ladder: Dystopian Literature

One of my classroom convictions (that's what I call them instead of resolutions) for 2018 is to do better about giving consistent book talks. I tend to be a little sporadic and give a bunch of book talks at once, and then forget to do it again for a couple of weeks. So, I started in mid-January (we missed a lot of school because of bad weather and a lot of class because of testing), giving a book talk every day.

Last week, I talked about historical fiction. This week, I knew I wanted to talk about dystopian books, because I have a lot of kids who said they wanted to branch out into new genres during the second half of the year, and dystopian was a genre that was mentioned frequently. And then I came up with an idea that I think will be beneficial to my readers, but that will also keep me on track with my book talks. I went to a Book Love workshop with Penny Kittle last year, and she talked about how to build reading ladders (a la Teri Lesesne) with genre. Thus, reading ladder book talks! I started with easier books on Monday, and progressed up to very challenging books by Friday. I had great success with this, and at least one student told me she wanted to read the whole ladder.

I am sharing them here today. I hope it might help others to build their own ladders, or feel free to use mine! I can't wait to come up with my next one!

Day One

Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

I started by showing my students the book trailer for this one.  Then, the talk: Otherworld started out as a virtual reality game. But, when its creators decided to use it to help people recovering from serious injuries, it became something else entirely, something much more serious. The creators of Otherworld decided that while people were recovering here in the real world from extreme injuries, their minds could continue to participate in the excitement of Otherworld while their bodies healed. Unfortunately, they failed to mention that if you die in Otherworld, you die in the real world too. Simon, our main character, is worried that his best friend, Kat, is in danger in Otherworld. Her body in in a coma in the real world, but her consciousness is in Otherworld, where she has no idea that she's in danger. Will Simon be able to save her or will it be too late? Does she even want him to try? Read Otherworld and find out!

Day Two

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

In Grasshopper Jungle, our main character, Austin, his best friend, Robby, and Austin's girlfriend, Shann, are typical small town kids. They live in Ealing, Iowa, where there's not much going on. It's a small town, like ours, and since there's not much to do, they spend a lot of time hanging out at the Grasshopper Jungle, their local strip mall. One fateful night, Austin and Robby make a discovery in the office of the manager of the thrift store, who has some very weird stuff in his office. If you want to know what kind of weird stuff, you'll have to read the book, but the weirdest is a container of a plague strain that is blue and glowing, and that ends up in the hands of some neighborhood bullies. When a fight breaks out, the plague strain container gets broken, Robby gets punched in the nose, and the blood mixing with the plague strain activates the virus. It's not long before people are infected, and the town's inhabitants begin mutating into giant, hungry, deadly praying mantises. Chaos ensues, and eventually it's down to Austin and Robby to try and save the world. But by the time they figure out where the plague came from and why, will there be any world left to save? If you have a high tolerance for weird, give this one a try!

Day Three

Landscape With Invisible Hand by MT Anderson

 

Planet Earth has been invaded by a race of aliens called the vuvv. The vuvv are not hostile, in fact, they've made everything on Earth better with their advanced technology. Unfortunately, their technology is so advanced it has made work unnecessary. The people of Earth are desperately poor and have very few opportunities to advance their status, unless they can figure out a way to entertain the vuvv. Our main character, Adam, has found a golden opportunity to do just that. You see, the vuvv LOVE reality television, especially dating shows where the dates look like the 1950s: sock hops,malt shoppes, cheeseburgers, and "parking." So when Adam and his girlfriend, Chloe, have an opportunity to be on a dating show, it seems like perfect. Adam gets to spend time with Chloe, the vuvv are entertained, and the money from the show can help Adam's family to rise above their poverty. However, when Chloe's family moves in downstairs, things start to go south, and Adam is faced with a choice: does he continue to pretend everything is great with him and Chloe, or does he tell the truth, face breach of contract, and lose everything he has gained for his family? Just how much misery can one guy stand? Don't be fooled by the short length of this book. You have to be pretty smart to get all the satire!  

Day Four

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

You won't find a lot of differences between the world we live in and the dystopia Ray Bradbury created in this book. You'll find a lot of familiar things, like ear buds, flat screen TV's, and reality television shows. The big difference is that books are outlawed in this society. In fact, the main character, Guy, is a fireman whose job is not to put out fires, but to set fire to the houses of citizens who have books. However, when Guy meets Clarisse, the rain-drinking, grass-sniffing, aimlessly-wandering girl next door, he finds himself starting to question the way things are. Clarisse makes him feel like maybe there's something missing from his day-to-day, boring existence. And when he encounters a woman who would rather die than let him burn her books, he starts to think that maybe the things that are missing can be found in books. Guy knows that stepping onto this path of rebellion is likely to cost him everything, but he's come too far to turn back now.

Day Five

1984 by George Orwell

  

George Orwell wrote 1984 in 1949. Communism was on the rise, and this book was his vision of the future if communism continued to spread unchecked. The world has been divided into three superpowers: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. These superpowers are engaged in a constant cycle of war. Against this backdrop, the citizenry of Oceania are kept in a constant state of fear and poverty by Big Brother, the leader of Oceania, and the Party. The Ministry of Truth feeds them a steady stream of lies in the form of newspapers, the Ministry of Plenty ensures they never have enough to eat, and if they speak out or rebel in any way, they disappear into the Ministry of Love, never to be seen or spoken of again. So when Winston Smith, our main character, buys a journal and commits his first act of thoughtcrime, he knows it's inevitable that he will be caught by the Thought Police and taken to the Ministry of Love. He's not sure it's worth it until he meets Julia, and together the two of them begin to search for the Brotherhood, an underground resistance aimed at taking down the Party and Big Brother. Does the Brotherhood even exist? Can Winston trust Julia? Is anyone really who they say they are? If you're really ready for a challenge, pick this one up. You won't be able to put it down.

What books would you add? I had such a hard time narrowing it down to just five! I am thinking there will definitely be another dystopian ladder in the near future. Do you have ideas for other ladders? I'd love to hear from you in the comments, or connect with me on Twitter @Mrs_J_of_EAMS or Facebook @Cristi Lackey Julsrud. Happy reading!