The Roar

The Roar situates itself firmly within the Young Adult/Middle Grade dystopian science-fiction genre alongside such stalwarts as Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game (1985) and Lois Lowry’s The Giver (1993). Like these others, The Roar adheres to a few standard genre conventions: The narrative is centered on youth—in this case Mika and Ellie Smith and their adolescent peers—and adults are present, but they are often ineffectual or tyrannical. Mika’s parents, for example, are well-meaning, but Mika defies them at every turn, and he is justified in doing so since he possesses knowledge they do not: His sister, Ellie, is alive. His parents believe the lie that she is dead because it came from an authoritative source. Mika, on the other hand, has the skepticism to question the official story. The polar opposite of Mika’s parents is Mal Gorman, the malevolent Minister for Youth Development. He is not only brutally effective, but he has the power to orchestrate a global conspiracy of child military recruitment. In Emma Clayton’s world—as in the genre in general—the youthful protagonists must battle both the evil and the clueless benevolence of the adult world.