The Messenger, by Lois Lowry

The Messenger (Giver #3), by Lois Lowry, 169 pages

Matty lives with Seer in the Village, where everything is pretty good.  But when the townspeople start to change for the worse, Matty is faced with a scary journey through the forest.  He must save the Seer's daughter, the village, and himself- but only two will make it.  This is the third book in the series, so it may have helped if I had read book 2.  But it was still comprehensible as a moral allegory and regarding the ambiguity of good and evil.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, 192 pages

Jonas lives in a society with no pain, no color, no choices, and no memory that things were ever different.  When Jonas' destiny is revealed to him, everything he thought he knew about his past and future begin to change.

I recently discovered that this book is actually followed by three other books, in a sort of series.  I was confused, because (spoiler alert, but not really, apparently) I remember having the impression that the main character dies in the end.  And... I still get that impression upon re-reading it.  Weird.  But anyway, this is a pretty good introduction to dystopia and science fiction for kids, who probably don't realize that is what they are reading.  But I think that adults, too, might enjoy revisiting this book.