The Declaration by Gemma Malley
I’ll start by saying that I am generally a fan of dystopian
literature, which is kind of odd because I’m actually about the most optimistic
person around. I was intrigued by the premise here—a world full of old people
where young people are not allowed to exist. If I was a YA publisher in the
current climate, I would certainly jump all over that. It just smacks of
success.
That said, I found that the plot seemed to stall for me. It
seems that this is a common complaint amongst my fellow bloggers. That, and the
hurried relationship between Peter and Anna seemed to muddy the book for me
(however, surely if you can get a pill to live forever then you can get a pill
to make someone fall in love with you immediately. Potential spin-off series
perhaps?).
I do think that this is a great read for young adults
though, and a way to get into some real discussion about the issues that it
brings up. For my action lesson, I’ll be using this book to tie in facts about
overpopulation and ways that technology attempts to answer it. It almost seems custom tailored
for it.
I’m not sure if I will read on in the series, but I would
like to see how it plays out. With such an exciting and promising premise, I’m
sure that it will be worth a read.
Your action lesson plan idea seems very intriguing to me. I can't wait to see it. Looking at the text from that angle makes me more intrigued to read the book. After your lesson I might just have to read it in my spare time.
ReplyDeleteThis book makes me think of The Giver by Lois Lowry which is my mental fallback for distopian literature. And who knows people are living longer so when are steps going to be taken to stop the earth from becoming overpopulated and is technology the solution?