The Dystopian Novel Your Students Will Actually Finish: Why I Teach Red Rising

I know there are a lot of reasons not to teach a new novel. Reinventing the wheel is rough. It’s hard to know what will land for students. I feel it! I understand!

But Red Rising honestly will change your classroom. It’s fun and students eat. it. UP.

When I first added it to my curriculum, I honestly just wanted to force someone (anyone) to discuss the book with me ad naseum. I LOVE this series. It’s gotten super popular in the last few years, but I’m a 10 year fan. And my husband won’t talk about them with me nonstop. Sooo, what’s a girl to do but force a classroom of teenagers to read it and discuss with me!

It went so well. Better than I expected. Throughout the unit, students barged into my classroom, starting discussions that we were going to have later. They were so excited, many read the rest of the books in the series. And I’ve never been more impressed with creative work than the end of unit project and presentation.

A Novel That Pulls Students In

I’ve taught a lot of books I love. But Red Rising is one of the only ones that has sparked genuine enthusiasm from my most reluctant readers. Part of that is its pacing and world-building—it opens like a dystopian novel, builds like a revolution, and reads like a reality TV survival story. Students are dropped into a stratified society on Mars and immediately start asking big questions: Who decides what's fair? Who gets to change the rules?

But the other reason it works is because it doesn’t underestimate them. The language is sophisticated, the moral questions are nuanced, and the stakes are high. It respects students’ intelligence while still being accessible.

I’ve never had as many students read the rest of the series as I did with this unit. Of course, the students who love English class were first in line to read the rest, but I also had students who really struggled with assigned books who picked up the series and talked about them with me for months. It was one of those teaching moments you dream of.

Representation Beyond Realism

One of the most overlooked elements of representation in English class is genre. So many of our texts are realistic, historical, or contemporary—and while those are incredibly important, they aren’t the only kinds of stories that help students feel seen.

Sci-fi, and especially Red Rising, can be a space where students who love speculative fiction finally see their interests reflected in the curriculum. They realize that their imagination and intellect belong in the classroom too.

I had one student who really struggled with getting work done–period. But for this project, she took the fan fiction creative writing final assessment, adapted it to her own life circumstance, wrote for her, and gave a beautiful presentation that showed to me that she just needed that connection to a text to really produce all the writing she was actually capable of.

What Happens When Students Fall In Love With Reading Again

We’ve all had those moments—quiet ones, usually—where we notice that something clicked. A student who normally drags their feet through every assigned book suddenly turns up early to class, asking questions. A kid who “doesn’t like English” is flipping through chapters on their own.

I had one student who was a “good” student generally. He was motivated and engaged, but English wasn’t his subject. He was more Science and Math focused–which is great. He participated in discussions, but I didn’t hear anything about further reading from him. So I was surprised when I got a note from his mom at the end of the year, thanking me for teaching Red Rising. She said she had never seen her son read any sort of sequels from an assigned book and that he had read the rest of the books in the series.

Seriously, this book is amazing. And students know it. Also, it’s all over BookTok and Bookstagram right now, so you’ll get major cool points for knowing and teaching it ;)

Teach Red Rising Without Reinventing the Wheel

If you’re curious about teaching Red Rising but overwhelmed by the idea of building a unit from scratch, I’ve done the work for you. The full unit is classroom-ready, designed to support meaningful discussions, creative and interdisciplinary projects, and close reading assignments that actually help students engage with the text—not just skim it. It’s better than what I’ve taught; it’s prettier and more fun!

The pacing works for both block and traditional schedules, and it’s flexible enough to adapt based on your class’s needs. Whether you’re looking to swap out an older dystopian text, build a new high-interest unit for the fall, or finally teach the book you love, the Red Rising unit is ready for you.

Red Rising Novel Study—Full, Editable, Creative Unit

Let me know what you think!