Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

1. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke • “Giant silver ships appear above every major city in the world. The Overlords have arrived. They eliminate ignorance, disease, poverty & fear. After fifty years they also start eliminating humans.” • Published 1953 • Pages: 256

2. Unwind by Neal Shusterman • “The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end.” • Published: 2007 • Pages: 335

3. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan • “In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her.” • Published 2009 • Pages: 310

4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?by Philip K. Dick • “A final, apocalyptic, world war has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending the majority of mankind off-planet. Those who remain, venerate all remaining examples of life, and owning an animal of your own is both a symbol of status and a necessity. For those who can't afford an authentic animal, companies build incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep . . . even humans.” • Published 1968 • Pages: 244

5. The Uglies by Scott Westerfield • “Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license--for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.” • Published 2005 • Pages: 432

6. The Road by Cormac McCarthy • “A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. ” • Published 2006 • Pages: 241

7. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood • “In the Republic of Gilead, we see a world devastated by toxic chemicals and nuclear fallout and dominated by a repressive Christian fundamentalism. The birthrate has plunged, and most women can no longer bear children. Offred is one of Gilead's Handmaids, who as official breeders are among the chosen few who can still become pregnant.” • Published 1985 • Pages: 311

8. World War Z by Max Brooks • “The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet.” • Published 2006 • Pages: 342