Exodus by Julie Bertagna

(343 p., Call Number: Y FICTION BERTAGNA, JULIE sci-fi)

At the dawn of the next century, 15-year-old Mara has lived with the realization that the world is drowning. Growing up on Wing, she has watched her North Atlantic island become smaller each year, and people have long ago abandoned technology in their struggles to subsist. After a particularly bad ocean surge, another part of the village is lost; this spurs Mara to convince the villagers that they will have a chance at a new life in the Sky Cities, which she has located on the now-defunct version of the Internet. But after terrible losses, the refugees arrive at the New World city of New Mungo (which towers above the mostly submerged Glasgow) to find a dreadful situation. Refugees barely survive, starving and diseased, forbidden from entering the city except when they are press-ganged into forced labor. With the help of matriarchal tree-dwelling primitives outside the city and an attractive young man inside, Mara hopes to rescue her friends and find new hope for humanity.

Like The Hunger Games, Exodus features a strong young female protagonist as she attempts to fight for survival and the prosperity of her people.