Dystopian teenage literature is typically not the genre of fiction I'm throwing in my bag for a vacation. I couldn't even make it through the entire Hunger Games series. I tried, really I did, but I just couldn't stomach it past the second book. So I was a little skeptical when a few people recommended Veronica Roth's teen thriller Divergent. A recent Northwestern grad who attended our church during her college years, Roth wrote the New York Times bestseller in her spare time during her senior year. By the time she graduated from college she had a book deal with Harper Collins. A year later the book was on national bestseller lists including the New York Times, Indie Bestseller List, Publishers Weekly, and NPR's Best Books of the Year! The second book in the three part series is titled Insurgent, and it is being met with equally rave reviews. Fans are anxiously awaiting the final book in the trilogy scheduled to be released this Fall (read more on her blog). There is even talk of a movie being made (Read More on that). The story is set in a futuristic Chicago where the world is divided into five factions- Candor, Abnegation, Erudite, Dauntless, and Amity. Everyone must choose the faction to which they will commit their allegiance...but there are consequences. It is the kind of page turning thriller that actually has a rich vocabulary and a philosophical background. Throw in a little romance, some action scenes, a small dose of 'coming of age' angst, and you've got a book you won't be able to put down. The story clips along at a pace that will keep you reading whether by the pool or in the car with two children on a seventeen hour road trip!
