Fahrenheit 451 Lovers!
I know that most people aren't normally fans of books in the literary canon since they were forced to read them in school. But I know that many of us English teachers belong to the horde of people who love Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
For those unfamiliar, Fahrenheit 451 is the story of dystopian world where firemen start fires rather than put them out. Guy Montag is the main character and his job as a firemen includes destroying the most illegal thing in their television dominated world--books. He has never questioned his life until he meets a new neighbor and he suddenly learns about a past where the ideas in books ruled over the mindlessness of television. He realizes that what the government is feeding them may not be the truth.
So if you love, Fahrenheit 451, you may enjoy Joelle Charbonneau's new YA series, starting with Verify.
Verify centers on Meri Beckley who lives in Chicago. But this Chicago is a world of peace and truth. The government tells no lies--or that is what they are told. The government controls all the information that citizens are fed and the country has now been conditioned to simply accept it. But when Meri's mother is killed, Meri suddenly finds herself discovering that the government might not be as honest as they proclaim to be. She is drawn into a secret world of facts and history that the government had tried to erase. Meri learns what it means to "verify" that what you're being told really is the truth. But the truth can be dangerous and Meri must learn to survive with this new information she can't unlearn.
I thought that the premise of this book was really interesting. It doesn't seem so far fetched that a government would try to erase parts of the their history that are less than desirable. It happens in other places in the world that the flow of information is directly controlled by the government and citizens are left in the dark. And if this is all you know, it's easy to imagine that many wouldn't question it.
But of course, there are always those who will find the truth and do whatever they can to spread it. That is what this book is about--that those who know the truth and its importance will sacrifice to share it with others. Once you know something, you can't keep it to yourself. And of course, like any other YA dystopian book, the person at the center of it all is a teenager. I don't mind that so much because young people are some of the most honest and fearless and can make a difference in the world--as evidenced by Greta Thunberg.
A few reviews I've seen have noted that the timeline that the book presents seems a little unrealistic--and I can agree with that. We are told that it's only about 60 years in the future and it seems that it might take longer than this to completely erase several words from the English language and make sure that no one is left who remembers the past. Personally, this was something I could overlook and suspend my disbelief on.
But overall I love the characters in the book--those that Meri teams up with to fight against the government. They understand the importance of truth and books (they should all be English teachers)! There's a little romance as well but it isn't central to the story.
I think that anyone who loves YA dystopian fiction will love this book. And if you enjoy this one, a sequel called Disclose is expected to be published in 2020. For now, you can purchase Verify here!
For those unfamiliar, Fahrenheit 451 is the story of dystopian world where firemen start fires rather than put them out. Guy Montag is the main character and his job as a firemen includes destroying the most illegal thing in their television dominated world--books. He has never questioned his life until he meets a new neighbor and he suddenly learns about a past where the ideas in books ruled over the mindlessness of television. He realizes that what the government is feeding them may not be the truth.
So if you love, Fahrenheit 451, you may enjoy Joelle Charbonneau's new YA series, starting with Verify.
I thought that the premise of this book was really interesting. It doesn't seem so far fetched that a government would try to erase parts of the their history that are less than desirable. It happens in other places in the world that the flow of information is directly controlled by the government and citizens are left in the dark. And if this is all you know, it's easy to imagine that many wouldn't question it.
But of course, there are always those who will find the truth and do whatever they can to spread it. That is what this book is about--that those who know the truth and its importance will sacrifice to share it with others. Once you know something, you can't keep it to yourself. And of course, like any other YA dystopian book, the person at the center of it all is a teenager. I don't mind that so much because young people are some of the most honest and fearless and can make a difference in the world--as evidenced by Greta Thunberg.
A few reviews I've seen have noted that the timeline that the book presents seems a little unrealistic--and I can agree with that. We are told that it's only about 60 years in the future and it seems that it might take longer than this to completely erase several words from the English language and make sure that no one is left who remembers the past. Personally, this was something I could overlook and suspend my disbelief on.
But overall I love the characters in the book--those that Meri teams up with to fight against the government. They understand the importance of truth and books (they should all be English teachers)! There's a little romance as well but it isn't central to the story.
I think that anyone who loves YA dystopian fiction will love this book. And if you enjoy this one, a sequel called Disclose is expected to be published in 2020. For now, you can purchase Verify here!
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