End-of-the-world stories have been popular for generations, but in the last decade they seem to be the mainstay of young adult novels with the success of “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent.”  Every season there are dozens of new dystopian novels released to sate the hunger of readers.  This season, one book, is getting a lot of attention:  “We All Looked Up” by debut novelist, Tommy Wallach.

     

Wallach wrote an article for the Huffington Post talking about his book and the long history of the apocalypse story starting way back with “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and the Biblical flood stories up through “The Time Machine,” and “The Stand” by Stephen King.  He also discusses why teenagers are drawn to these stories when you would think they would have a more hopeful outlook.  “There is a way in which end-of-the-world fiction allows us to look some scary things in the eye, things that more naturalistic fiction simply ignores.”

           

His novel is about four teenagers in the spring of their senior year puzzling over their future directions and careers.  Peter is a star athlete, Anita, the bright student, Andy, the slacker and Eliza, the girl with a certain reputation.  And then everyone’s future is in doubt.  An asteroid named Ardor is heading towards earth and has a 66 percent chance of colliding with the planet.  The date is two months hence.

           

“We All Looked Up” focuses primarily on the four students as they deal with typical teen issues while at the same time questioning what is truly important at the end of the world.  Winning a game or getting an A suddenly seems far less important than who you are and how you spend your last few weeks.

           

Tommy Wallach has written a riveting book that will appeal to all readers not just young adult ones. 

           

If you would like to try some other dystopian young adult books, try “Uglies” by Scott Westerfield, “Life As We Knew It” by Suan Beth Pfeffer, “The Maze Runner” by James Dashner, “The Dead-Tossed Waves” by Carrie Ryan, “Delirium” by Lauren Oliver, “Matched” by Ally Condie, “Enclave” by Ann Aguirre, “The Immortal Rules” by Julie Kagawa, “A Million Suns” by Beth Revis and “The Haven” by Carol Lynch Williams.  And if you would like even more choices go to GoodReads for their top 100 dystopian novels’ list.