A young lady finds that she is one of the select few that have a divergent mind in this futuristic society which puts her life at risk.
General Information:
- Series: Divergent (Book 1)
- Price: $11.39
- Paperback: 487 pages
- Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0062024035
- ISBN-13: 978-0062024039
Plot:
Divergent is a book that takes place in the city of Chicago in the dystopian future. The world is divided into five factions. Each faction has a lot of conformity within them as people are tested to see what faction they belong to based off of aptitude tests taken once the teens hit 16 years old. This story follows a young girls named Beatrice Prior who goes by the name Tris when with the Dauntless clan after changing clans from Abnegation at her ceremony. What is special about her is she is actually showing aptitude for multiple factions meaning she is a divergent. She is told to hide that because the society views divergents as threats as they want conformity from everyone for each specific faction. As Tris tries to find herself in the Dauntless clan the is drugged and controlled and used as soldiers to invade the other factions to take power within the world however as a divergent the serum does not work on Tris. That is the foundation of the first book of the series.
Reading and Interest Level:
The book is marketed for grades 10-12 and ages 15 and up. Based off of reading the book and the themes within the book I believe that the marketing for the book makes perfect sense .
Evaluation:
The first book of this series was written exceptionally well. It hits one many different teen aspects, such as having a love interest, finding oneself, following your heart versus your family, total government control, and conformity. Each of these themes is touched upon within the book in an intelligent matter through the views of Tris (Beatrice Prior) and in a way that is easily relatable to the teen audience. Its effective in the sense that it uses these messages to move the plot and keep the book interesting without becoming heavy or to slow for what essentially is an action-adventure science fiction tale. That is why this book is effective especially with its target audience of older teens.
Bibliotherapeutic Value:
The bibliotherapeutic usefulness of this book is very high which is likely why it is so popular with the older teens. On an individual level teens can relate to multiple problems faced and worked through by Tris. For example the finding oneself when you don’t seem to fit in anywhere is a theme faced by Tris as she is a rare divergent in her world. Or following your families footsteps versus carving your own path which is faced by both Tris but even more shockingly her brother who everyone expected to stay with the family. Then finally how important individuality is even if it is threatened as conformity can lead to very serious societal issues which get exposed in this book. All of these issues can be felt and experienced on a regular basis.
Issues Present:
The issues present in this book include anti-government sentiment, child violence, and ostracizing the other as potential concerns that may be brought up in a challenge to this title. There are mutterings of dissent throughout the book starting with the doctor who tells Tris to keep her divergent nature hidden from the government through to the end where a rebellion starts by the divergents. The child violence was almost a softer version of spartan society in the dauntless faction which is a concern for some parents. One child from the dauntless ended up committing suicide during this training section.
Defending the Title:
How to defend this book from these challenges is to explain the importance of these topics and the fact that the book presents them in a clean and easy to relate way. The child violence in the dauntless training for example is for the most part safe beyond superficial injuries. The anti-government sentiment is a large part of our world today so it is a relatable subject. This book isn’t telling teens to become anarchists but rather to understand the dangers of totalitarian government and the conformity/exclusion of what the government views as the other or thoughts they view as radical.
Book Talk Ideas:
Some book talk ideas for this title would be the topic of Tris self discovery throughout the novel. It starts in the beginning while worrying about the aptitude test and it only grows as she joins dauntless. Some of the pages that could be referenced to in the book on this topic are: 6-7, 20-23, 40-43, 130-132, 177-179, 256-258, 378-384 etc.
Genre:
The genre and subject matter of Divergent is Teen Fiction, specifically science fiction and action adventure.
Similar reads:
Authors Website:
http://www.carvethemarkbooks.com/
Awards:
The Amelia Bloomer Award
2011 Goodreads Best Young Adult Book
2011 Goodreads Choice Awards Favorite Book
Yalsa Teens Top Ten
Professional Reviews:
https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/jul/15/review-veronica-roth-divergent
Why I chose to read this book?
The hook of this book that really drew me into it was the strong division of society into factions. I thought that it was reminiscent of what our political parties look like and I could see how a teen would really relate to it because not only do they see it in the government and politics but also within there daily lives with social cliques. Also from the viewpoint of Tris trying to find herself in a moment of transition in her life was intriguing as she has to decide what the rest of her life will be like at a young age. Overall the book was terrific to read and a top choice to have in a library.
Librarianship 