Michael Grant’s Gone: The Next FAYZ in Dystopian Classroom Literature

Michael Grant’s Gone: The Next FAYZ in Dystopian Classroom Literature

Not to be confused with Tim LaHayes’ rapture series, Left Behind, Michael Grant’s dystopian series starts with Gone and ends with Light. In the first novel, we meet Sam Temple, best friends with Quinn Gaither. Sam is the product of a single-parent household, and his only real passion is surfing with Quinn in the Perdido Beach bay. During the course of a seemingly regular afternoon, his life and the life of all the other kids on Perdido Beach takes a ninety degree turn when all of the adults and all adolescents over the age of 15 suddenly disappear into thin air in the middle of their tasks. What ensues is a sometimes painful and sometimes gory sci-fi/fantasy/thriller that keeps the reader wondering what will happen next. This book series is appropriate for older high school students as it draws attention to sociopolitical issues, features a wide range of diverse characters, and addresses the underlying theme of human nature.

From the opening of his book series, Grant sets the foundation for the novels to look at socioeconomics through the eyes of teenaged protagonists and antagonists. Sam Temple goes to public school and has only his mother to support him. He lives in a small two bedroom apartment in the poor area of Perdido Beach. Caine, the antagonist of the series, is a wealthy kid that goes to the private school which graces the top of the mountain overlooking Perdido Beach bay. When all of the adults disappear, the kids of the public school return to their homes, and wander aimlessly, not knowing what to do. Eventually fires break out from things such as unattended stoves or car wrecks, and Sam along with some other 15-year-olds, attempt to gather the older public school kids to round up small children in safe homes. The attempt fails as the other kids are uninterested in helping one another. In the private school, Cain immediately and without challenge assumes the role of leader of the school, and begins arranging a campaign to take over the entirety of Perdido Beach. What is interesting here is that the rub between private and public school kids is a theme that Grant addresses and revisits throughout the series; repeatedly, the idea of rich kids and their reactions versus kids of middle class, and lower class gets challenged and re-challenged. Eventually, Albert, a minor public school character, develops a system that mimics capitalism with Monopoly money whilst Hunter, another minor character represents the ideals of communism. Throughout the series, social and economic actions and reactions are explored, debunked, and reworked in order to stimulate the reader to really think about the ideals that surround political and systematic beliefs.

In opposition to many highly publicized YAL sci-fi/fantasy novels, Grant’s series features a wide range of diverse characters that not only drive the plot, but are heroes that help the children of the series work toward building a better society. One of the main characters in the series, Little Pete, is a child who is on the spectrum. Throughout the series, the reader learns from Astrid how her family taught Little Pete, who is unable to verbally communicate but who is a genius. Other main characters that are heroes include Lana, a Native American girl who survives against many odds, Edilio, a boy from Honduras who is constantly fighting Mexican stereotypes, Brianna, a light-skinned mixed girl, Dekka a dark-skinned lesbian who saves Sam repeatedly, Sanjit and Virtue, children adopted from India and the Congo by rich movie stars, Taylor and Duck Zhang who are both Asian-American, and many more. The sheer number of diverse characters makes the series astoundingly applicable to many class settings. Grant does not shy away from addressing stereotypes in the novels by allowing the reader access to the inner dialogues of his characters when they come against prejudices involving their ethnic makeup. All of the characters I mentioned are also heroes, so the series in not lacking in ethnically diverse heroes. The series also addresses prejudices that precipitate after some kids begin to develop X-men like mutant powers. Grant dedicates much of the series addressing Human versus Mutant violence, making the series exceptionally easy to incorporate civil rights and reali-life prejudices.

Gone, and the subsequent books of the series, acts as a social commentary on the nature of humanity and the depths to which some people will sink for their own greed as well as the sacrifices that others make for the greater good. Michael Grant’s exploration of human nature parallels William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, and I feel that the series would be a great pairing with this classic. Both authors explore the idea of what happens to children, who are supposed to be innocent, but are surprisingly cruel and increasingly violent towards one another in worlds free of adults. One way that students could explore the themes of humanity is by exploring archetypes that trace origins back to John Milton. Students could also compare and contrast the level of violence in Golding versus Grant, and determine what the increased level of violence in Grant’s novel says about the state of humanity now. There are numerous ways that the nature of humanity could be incorporated into the curriculum through Grant’s novels, because he repeatedly uses his characters to determine what the nature of humans are through character analysis and plot.

Michael Grant’s Gone and the subsequent books in the series are a great tool tool open up dialogue and exploration of themes that deal with sociopolitical awareness, diverse characterization, and unapologetic commentary on the nature of humanity. While the novels can be violent, the content remains applicable for modern classrooms. I believe that just be the merits of having so much diversity in character, that students will connect to the material. The series also has elements of mystery, which are not solved until the 6th and final book.

Works Cited

Grant, Michael. Gone. New York: Harper Collins, 2008. eBook.