Red Rising - Pierce Brown
Set on Mars, Darrow is a Red. In this color cast society, a Red is the lowest clan. Darrow lives below ground on Mars. He is a helldiver, a miner doing the most dangerous work of all. Life is cheap as a Red and miners and their families don't live long. But the sacrifice is worth it, or so they think. For generations, the Reds believed they were the only humans on Mars. They mine helium-3, a mineral necessary to make Mars habitable for humans as Earth lays dying light years away. What they don't know is that Mars has been inhabited for generations, ruled by the Golds. When 16 -year-old Darrow sees his bride Eo killed by government forces, he is recruited by a revolutionary group committed to overthrowing the Golds. They know the truth about the society that lives above ground. Driven by grief, Darrow agrees and undergoes harrowing operations, brutal combat training, and tutorials in everything from reading and writing to which fork to use at dinner. The plan? Darrow will infiltrate Gold society and beat them from the inside.
Book 1 in the Red Rising series, hand this one to readers ready to move on from Percy Jackson or the Hunger Games series. Intrigue, brutal battles, and a righteous cause fuel the action in this fast-paced read.
Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
The year is 2044 and life on Earth is no picnic. Global warming and an oil crisis have destroyed life as we know it, and poverty is overwhelming. To escape this grim landscape, most citizens choose to live their lives online, jacked into OASIS. OASIS is a vast, virtual world where players can be and do whatever they want. Seventeen-year-old Wade Watts is no different. An orphan since 11, he lives in a vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City. Wade has no hope for a better life, until the death of the creator of OASIS. When James Halliday dies, it's announced he left no heir to his massive fortune. Instead, he left three Easter eggs buried in OASIS and the first to solve the riddles and find all three will inherit everything. Wade, like everyone else on Earth, wants to find those eggs. Wade, to his surprise, stumbles upon the first egg, and now he's in it to win it. But so is an evil corporation, who will stop at nothing to win the grand prize, including murder.Likable characters, references to the 1980's, and a love of video games make this a great book for reluctant readers. Give this one to the gamers in your library!
Ashfall - Mike Mullin
Alex, 15, just wants a quiet weekend eating junk food and playing video games. His parents and sister are visiting family for the weekend and Alex is happy to stay behind. That is until the earth starts shaking, his house starts tilting, and fire breaks out. Not an everyday occurrence in small town Iowa. As Alex escapes, he sees his town and neighborhood are destroyed. What they don't know is a super volcano beneath Yellowstone has erupted and this is only the beginning. Transportation, communication, water, food, and medical services are in short supply or non-existent. Citizens form gangs and within hours murder, assault, and theft are commonplace. Alex knows being on his own is dangerous. His only hope of survival is to walk hundreds of miles to find his parents in Illinois. But when the world has gone crazy, getting there won't be easy.
This is a great choice for readers who love survival and action stories. Fans of the Walking Dead will love this trilogy!
