Dystopian novels in children's and young adult literature as books for all ages

Various literary works such as *Momo*, *The Neverending Story*, *Harry Potter*, *The Hunger Games* and others make it clear that children's and young adult books are no longer just for young readers. These books - primarily aimed at a young readership - regularly feature in the bestseller lists, but not in the children's and young adult section, rather in the fiction section, whose readership consists predominantly, if not exclusively, of adults. The dystopian genre in particular has experienced a veritable boom in literature and film in recent years. But why are adult readers increasingly turning to books that are actually aimed at children and young people? To address this question, this paper examines the young adult novel *Die Wolke* by Gudrun Pausewang, published in 1987.