Young Adult (YA) fiction is a growing genre consisting of books marketed for youngsters from about 12 to 18 years of age. Because this market is strongly supported by the American public school system and effectively marketed through the movie industry, YA books can break sales records, and because most of the public enjoy books written at about a fifth grade reading level, these books can be very popular with older readers.
Between the target age group's love of adventure, the movie industry's love of adventure, and everyone else's love of adventure, YA literature has moved away from realistic coming of age stories and has refocused on teenagers doing magic, fighting vampires, and of course, fighting for their lives and their freedom in a dystopian future.
This is not a new idea; younger readers have been rediscovering the excitement of books like Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World for decades. However, the current trend moving slightly away from social commentary and a bit more towards exciting adventures has made this genre a very popular one. In fact, it is so popular that YA is no longer really an accurate descriptor; Publisher's Weekly found that 43% of YA book readers were actually over 18, and that's just for those readers who were buying for themselves, not those parents who were borrowing The Hunger Games from their kids.
The following list of YA dystopian fiction is incomplete, to say the least. However, we have managed to review a good percentage of the best sellers in this genre, and will certainly be adding more as time goes on. Please let me know if you have anything to add to this category!