Recommended reading for kids who are not yet ready for “The Hunger Games” trilogy but want books similar to it.
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The White Mountains by John Christopher TEEN CHRISTOPHER Young Will Parker and his companions make a perilous journey toward an outpost of freedom where they hope to escape from the ruling Tripods, who capture mature human beings and make them docile, obedient servants. Catalog Link |
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The Roar by Emma Clayton SF J CLAYTON In an overpopulated world where all signs of nature have been obliterated and a wall has been erected to keep out plague-ridden animals, twelve-year-old Mika refuses to believe that his twin sister was killed after being abducted and continues to search for her in spite of the dangers he faces in doing so. Catalog Link |
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Gregor The Overlander (Underland Chronicles) by Suzanne Collins SF J COLLINS When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy. Catalog Link |
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Raider's Ransom: Flood and Fire by Emily Diamand SF J DIAMAND In 22nd-century Cambridge, England, thirteen-year-old Lilly Melkun must try to stop the strange, uncontrollable robots that were activated when a sinister-looking chip in her hand-held computer triggered a false anti-terrorist alert. Catalog Link |
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The City of Ember: The First Book of Ember (Books of Ember) by Jeanne DuPrau SF TEEN DUPRAU In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions. Catalog Link |
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The Sky Inside by Clare B. Dunkle SF TEEN DUNKLE Martin lives in a “perfect world” under the protective dome of suburb HM1, where every year a new generation of genetically-engineered children is shipped out to meet their parents. And it’s all about to come crashing down because a stranger has come to take away all the little children, including Martin’s sister, Cassie, and no one wants to talk about where they have gone. Martin has a choice either to remain in the dubious safety of HM1, or to break out of the suburb into the mysterious land outside. Catalog Link |
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Eager by Helen Fox SF J FOX Unlike Grumps, their old-fashioned robot, the Bell family’s new robot, Eager, is programmed to not merely obey but to question, reason, and exercise free will. Catalog Link |
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The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman TEEN GOODMAN Born in the eighteenth year of Enclosure, ten-year-old Honor lives in a highly regulated colony with her defiant parents, but when they have an illegal second child and are taken away, it is up to Honor and her friend Helix, another “unpredictable,” to uncover a terrible secret about their island and the corporation that runs everything. Catalog Link |
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Among The Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix SF TEEN HADDIX 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. Catalog Link |
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The Line by Teri Hall SF J HALL Rachel thinks that she and her mother are safe working for Ms. Moore at her estate close to The Line, an invisible border of the Unified States, but when Rachel has an opportunity to Cross into the forbidden zone, she is both frightened and intrigued. Catalog Link |
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Mister Monday (Keys to the Kingdom, Book 1) by Garth Nix SF J NIX Arthur Penhaligon is supposed to die at a young age, but is saved by a key that is shaped like the minute hand of a clock. The key causes bizarre creatures to come from another realm, bringing with them a plague. A man named Mister Monday will stop at nothing to get the key back. Arthur goes to a mysterious house that only he can see, so that he can learn the truth about himself and the key. Catalog Link |
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The Giver (Newbery Medal Book) by Lois Lowry NEWBERY TEEN LOWRY Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Catalog Link |
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The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann SF J MCMANN In a society that purges thirteen-year-olds who are creative, identical twins Aaron and Alex are separated, one to attend University while the other, supposedly Eliminated, finds himself in a wondrous place where youths hone their abilities and learn magic. Catalog Link |
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Hatchet by Gary Paulsen TEEN PAULSEN After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents’ divorce. Catalog Link |
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Storm Runners: Book 1 by Roland Smith J SMITH Twelve-year-old Chase Masters travels the country with his father, a “storm runner,” but he is tested in ways he never could have imagined when he and a new friend are caught in a hurricane near St. Petersburg, Florida. Catalog Link |
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Museum of Thieves (The Keepers) by Lian Tanner SF J TANNER Goldie, an impulsive and bold twelve-year-old, escapes the oppressive city of Jewel, where children are required to wear guardchains for their protection, and finds refuge in the extraordinary Museum of Dunt, an ever-shifting world where she discovers a useful talent for thievery and mysterious secrets that threaten her city and everyone she loves. Catalog Link |
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The Boy at the End of the World by Greg van Eekhout SF J VAN EEKHOUT Born half-grown in a world that is being destroyed, Fisher has instinctive knowledge of many things, including that he must avoid the robot that knows his name. Catalog Link |