18. Matched by Ally Condie (Dutton Juvenile, 2010)

BOOK: ROMANCE/DYSTOPIA (ages 14-18)

Brief Description: In a seemingly Utopian society, all is not as it appears. Sure, citizens are "happy" and trouble-free and guided by statistics kept by the Society, but they're also unable to made any decisions in their own lives. Meet 16-year-old Cassia, who will be attending her Matching Banquet, where she'll meet the boy who will be her life partner, chosen by the Society, of course. Something goes wrong, however, and two faces appear, both of whom she knows, another strange occurrence in this future world. Cassia slowly begins to find a streak of rebellion within herself, partially with the help of her grandfather who leaves her an artifact with a big secret. Also, she develops feelings for the second of the boys who appear on the screen; definitely not acceptable by the Officials, as this is not her chosen match. How far will Cassia go to attain her own dreams and possibly risk the lives of her family and friends?

Awards: Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books; Kirkus Book Review Stars; YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults

Personal Opinion: I really enjoy the dystopian fiction genre, but this just fell flat for me. Aside from the short choppy sentence structure and lackluster pacing, the entire plot just never seemed to really develop. Characters were not drawn well - perhaps deliberately as the citizens in the Society are not permitted to be too distinct? I'm not too sure. Part romance, part attempt at suspenseful dystopia, I just never really cared about the characters and found myself engaged only a few times in heated moments - the tension simply never materialized into good suspense; I just kept waiting for something to happen, and when it did, my only thought was "so what?" After reading a few published reviews, I just don't see what all the hoopla is about; everyone is absolutely gaga over this book, but not me. I even read one that compared the book to The Hunger Games, but I'm insulted over this comparison; The Hunger Games is far superior to this ho-hum book.

Curriculum/Programming: This genre seems quite popular with middle school students, so I would like to create a book club of dystopian lit for the school year. I think I'll try it this September; there's no lack of books being published in this genre! Students might also read The Giver and compare and contrast the dystopian societies presented in each novel.