Dare to Disturb: Reading and Agency in Young Adult Dystopian Literature

Among genres for children and young adults, dystopias embody the controversy about happy endings, trigger important reactions in their readers, and require an active participation. YA dystopias, by their very nature, deal with dark times and, much in line with critical dystopias, tend to offer open or not altogether unhappy endings. Through the combination of images of a bleak future with hope still possible, they interrogate the present, thus maintaining the potential to inspire the “social dreaming” that is central to utopia (Sargent 1994: 3). But most of all, they can also call to action their readers. Such features make the YA dystopian genre conducive to inspiring teenagers who are on the brink of adulthood and struggling with the social structures that seek to construct them.