If you like to read the book before you see the movie, you may want to put your name on the hold list for Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. It hits theaters December 14th, and if it will be worth seeing even if it’s only a quarter as good as the book (yes, the book is that good). It is set in a future overtaken by Municipal Darwinism where cities built on huge rolling platforms roam the wilderness that was once Europe, consuming smaller cities and towns. An apprentice historian on London discovers his hero and mentor being attacked by a young woman, but when he steps in both he and the attacker are thrown off the city. Surviving on the ground, a plot is discovered that could bring even greater devastation to the remnants of a destroyed world.
Dystopian movies based on teen novels are plentiful, but one you may have missed – it wasn’t in the theaters long – is The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. Fortunately, the DVD is coming soon to the library. It is set in a future where an epidemic has wiped out most of America’s children. Some of the ones who survived the disease, however, have developed some scary abilities.