When Twilight became a global phenomenon, people finally realised that Young Adult books were big business. The problem was though that the tale of vampires and werewolves locked in a love triangle didn’t always receive the critical recognition to match its financial success. However, with the massive popularity and highly praised film adaptations of the Hunger Games novels, a dystopian tale with a strong female lead, people finally started taking the ever-growing Young Adult genre a bit more seriously.
Since then, there have been a slew of Young Adult franchises being touted as ‘the new Hunger Games’, with latest being Veronica Roth’s Divergent, which hit UK cinemas last Friday. The tale of teenager Tris Prior, who lives in a post-apocalyptic society that is split into factions determined by personality type, reached number four in the UK box office in its first weekend opening, proving that YA dystopian stories are as popular as ever.
Here's a list of the five books to read in 2014...
**The Maze Runner by James Dashner **
The original novel came out in 2009, but there’s new buzz around this book because a long-awaited screen adaptation is being released in October. The ‘maze runner’ of the title is Thomas, a teenage boy who is dropped off at the ‘Glade’ – a society of teenage boys surrounded by a big maze – with no recollection of his life beforehand. Thomas joins the other boys in trying to find a way to escape, but things are complicated by the arrival of a mysterious girl.
The film adaptation contains several rising stars whose faces you might recognise, including Kaya Scodelario (who played Effy in Skins) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (the little boy in Love Actually, currently playing Jojen Reed in Game of Thrones). There are also two sequels and a prequel to The Maze Runner for you to sink your teeth into.
The Wool Trilogy by Hugh Howey
The introduction of e-books has seen an increase in self-publishing, which has historically been written off as vanity publishing or poor-quality fan fiction. However Hugh Howey has proved that this doesn’t have to be the case with his Silo series of novellas, which are split into three installments, titled Wool, Shift and Dust.
The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic Earth where humanity clings to survival in subterranean cities called the ‘Silos’. A comic-book adaptation of the book is coming and film rights to the series have been sold to 20th Century Fox, with Alien director Ridley Scott expressing an interest in directing. Watch this space!
The Young World by Chris Weitz
After a mysterious ‘Sickness’ wipes out everyone except teenagers, the survivors assemble into tightly run tribes. Jefferson, the reluctant leader of the Washington Square tribe, and his secret crush Donna, have carved out a precarious existence among the chaos. But when another tribe member discovers a clue to a cure for the Sickness, they set out on a life-altering road trip to save humankind.
Yes, it does sound very similar to the New Zealand/British television series, The Tribe, which used to run on Channel 5, but Weitz is the director of The Golden Compass and Twilight: New Moon, so we can expect a cinematic story when this is published in July. It’s the first in a trilogy and Warner Bros have already signed up a film adaptation.
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
This book follows 16-year-old Cassie Sullivan as she tries to survive in a world devastated by waves of alien invasion that have wiped out most of the population and knocked mankind back to the stone age. As the fifth wave approaches, Cassie is one of Earth’s last survivors and she is determined to fulfill her promise to get back to her baby brother. Cassie has learnt to stay alone to survive, but the arrival of Evan Walker makes her question what she knows.
The first book in a planned trilogy came out last year and the second book is due to come out this September, with a film currently in production under Sony.
Riot by Sarah Mussi
It’s 2018 and the recession is still causing devastation across England, with the ever-growing society cracking under the pressure. In a bid to curb the population explosion, the government introduces the forced sterilisation of all school leavers without further education or employment plans. Shocked by the unfairness of these plans, teenagers are in revolt, but the politicians won’t budge. The only way they can fight for their right to choose what happens to their bodies is by taking to the streets and rioting.
This is a topical stand-alone novel that raises lots of interesting questions about our society and the problems facing it today.
Follow Caroline on Twitter @CarolineC1988
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.