BOOKS AND MOVIES

Posted By CarrieK on November 10, 2009

Title: The Sky Inside
Author: Clare B. Dunkle
Genre: Middle grade dystopian fiction
Publisher: Ginee Seo Books
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
First line: The big television cameras of the “You’ve Been Caught Napping Game Show” prowled in the darkness at the edge of the set.

Martin Glass is the 12-year-old protagonist of The Sky Inside, a dystopian novel aimed at middle grade readers. Martin lives in the Suburb, a picture-perfect community encased in a steel dome. The seasons change on a time table, the flowers are fake, the bird song is recorded. The inhabitants of the Suburb live their sanitized life in front of the television, told by the commercials what to purchase and how to live, and asked by the president to vote each morning via computer on important statehood issues like the color of curtains in his office.

The only hiccup in this “perfect” world are the Wonder Babies, test tube children who have been brought by the “stork” to expectant parents in the Suburb. These Wonder Babies have genius IQs, and won’t stop asking questions. Asking questions is not allowed in a society under extreme control by the powers that be. When the Wonder Babies, including his sister, are subjected to a “recall,” Martin ventures outside the Suburb to find – and rescue – his sister.

I chose The Sky Inside as one of my titles for the two YA dystopian challenges because it was available on audio, and I have more time to listen to audio these days while at the gym. Because I’ve been reading a lot of this genre lately, and some of it has been absolutely excellent (The Hunger Games and the sequel, John Marsden’s Tomorrow, When the War Began series), when one is just okay, it’s a disappointment.

Dunkle has created a dystopian world that seems possible, and that is the biggest strength of this book. As our society strains harder and harder for perfection, and disdains more and more the normal weaknesses and imperfections that make us human, we walk willingly toward a future like the one Dunkle describes.

The reason that I simply liked this book, as opposed to loving it, is that it wasn’t exciting enough to make me anticipate the time I spent listening to it. While Martin was a likable enough character, the storyline didn’t engage my emotions. I was happy with the way it ended, but didn’t feel an attachment to any of the characters. And I don’t think it would keep the intended audience of 5th to 8th graders interested. When looking up The Sky Inside on Amazon, I discovered that there is a sequel called The Walls Have Eyes. I’m not sure that I’ll be seeking it out, though.

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Categories: audiobooks, children's fiction, science fiction
Tags: audiobooks, children's fiction, dystopian fiction, middle grade fiction, science fiction