Mark Watney became the first person to walk on Mars. But now, it looks like he’ll be the first person to stay there. After Mark gets stranded without his crew and supplies, he is determined to stay alive, even with the unforgiving Mars atmosphere. As he draws upon his past experiences and engineering skills, he successfully is able to communicate with NASA and alert his friends and family that he is still alive. But disaster strikes, and communication is cut once again.
Believe Me, by Tahereh Mafi, brings an end to the young adult dystopian Shatter Me series in the form of a novella centering around Juliette and Warner.
Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long is a book about Sena, a seventeen-year-old girl who lives on Tundar, a frozen planet with nothing to show except for the annual race that killed her mothers. Sena hates the race, and she wants to do is get out Tundar. But after double-crossing her town’s lead gangster, she has to flee from her home with a stolen fighting wolf, and her only option becomes joining the race.
“Life isn't fair…It's taken me a while to get that. It's always going to disappoint you in some way or another. You'll make plans, and it'll push you in another direction. You will love people, and they'll be taken away no matter how hard you fight to keep them. You'll try for something and won't get it. You don't have to find meaning in it; you don't have to try to change things. You just have to accept the things that are out of your hands and try to take care of yourself. That's your job.”
Orson Scott Card's book, Ender’s Game, is a magnificent book. The premise of the book, an earth that barely survived the first two alien invasions is prepping for a third attack from the aliens, or buggers as they are referred to in the book. The human race was barely able to survive the second attack from the buggers, only thanks to the cunning work of Mazer Rackham. With Mazer Rackham aging, the Humans knew they needed a younger just as brilliant mind that could help them lead the ships in the war.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a dystopian book that takes place in a country known as Panem, where the Capitol has oppressive control over the twelve other districts. Katniss Everdeen, a teenager from District 12, volunteers to take her sister's place in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a fight to the death involving teenagers from each district. The story follows Katniss as she experiences the Hunger Games.
Uglies is a dystopian novel set in a society where everyone gets a mandatory cosmetic surgery at 16 to become a “Pretty.” The story follows Tally Youngblood, a 15-year-old girl eagerly waiting her transformation. However, she starts doubting the system when she meets Shay, a rebellious girl who resists the operation and introduces Tally to the Smoke, a hidden city of people who reject societal beauty standards.
Warcross by Marie Lu follows a teenage hacker/bounty hunter, Emika Chen, in a futuristic New York City. Emi makes a living by tracking down illegal gamblers in the brain-computer interface game known as Warcross. Unfortunately, her profits aren’t enough to save her from eviction, leading her to steal power ups at the Warcross Championships. She does get caught, but instead of being arrested, Emi gets hired by the creator of Warcross, Hideo Tanaka, to find an elusive hacker known as Zero.
Harry Turtledove's We Install is an action-packed science fiction novel that explores the potential consequences of advanced technology and social change. The plot centers around a near-future society where incredibly realistic androids are becoming increasingly integrated into everyday life, offering services from household chores to companionship.
Scythe by Neal Shusterman takes place in a world where humanity has conquered natural forms of death with the help of a godlike artificial intelligence known as the Thunderhead. To prevent Earth from overpopulating, an organization known as the Scythes formed to “glean” citizens at random. The story follows two teenagers, Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch, who are selected by Scythe Faraday to train as his apprentices. Neither have a choice in the matter, but must compete for the title of scythe.
