Trend spotter alert! In case you haven't noticed, dystopian literature is suddenly everywhere!
Move over 1984 and Brave New World because author Victoria Roth is taking the genre to a whole new level! Readers are saying these novels are the next new Hunger Games - only better!
One of the similarities between these novels and The Hunger Games series is the idea of separating people into different groups. Children have to take aptitude tests and be placed in factions based on their personalities. Each group wears a particular type of clothing and stereotypes can be seen, such as the Amish and humility; and punks and nose rings. The compelling, fast-moving, original storyline along with a subtle love story thrown in that will keep teen readers coming back for more though.
Not only are they great reads, but Roth took inspiration from Aeschylus (ancient Greek Tragedian), Frank Herbert, (author of Dune), Sophocles (another Green Tragedian), Galatians 5:15, and Lord Alfred Tennyson's Ulysses. From each of these she either found a voice, an idea, or some intrinsic something that let her inside the mind or soul of humanity to create her characters.
From the quotations listed in the backs of some volumes of Divergent readers are allowed inside the mind of this writer. It takes lot of work and a lot of reading to become a writer!
So, from getting students interested in pleasure reading to taking it to the next level with Common Core in an Englist literature classroom, these books have tons of potential!
