SOLVED. YA dystopian novel, probably from 1980's. [s]

[Pamela]

The heroine's name is AMitY, and yes, it's capitalized like that. Her best friend's name is pRuDenCe. Everyone has names like that. They live in a dystopian future that's very overcrowded. People aren't allowed to be friends with people who live near them so that they won't talk when others are trying to sleep. AMitY's friend will be sterilized soon because she has a relative who's diabetic. She'll be living in a "steri swarm". AMitY gets a job working in a wealthy family's house generating energy by pedaling a bicycle.
AMitY and a few others somehow wind up in a parallel dimension which is a paradise by comparison. It's primitive and rural. The people from the dystopia find out that there's a prophecy that the paradise will be threatened by others, and decide to stay to protect it. (view spoiler)[ It turns out that the people from the dystopia are the threat, so they leave. (hide spoiler)]

I read this sometime during 1988-1990, and I think it was fairly new then.

[Tanya]

I'm bumping this because now I'm also obsessed with finding out what this book is! It sounds really good!

[Cheryl]

Another bump cuz I'm interested and I don't even read dystopia. Pamela, good plug. ;)

[Krystal]

Fairly sure this isn't what you're looking for, but it came up after some googling and it sounded interesting. And it had a few things in common. Even if it's not the book you're looking for, it might be worth checking out ... The Passage

I also found this other thread from somebody else (I think) also searching for this book if you wanted to keep an eye on that thread as well: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/a...

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen]

Krystal wrote: "Fairly sure this isn't what you're looking for, but it came up after some googling and it sounded interesting. And it had a few things in common. Even if it's not the book you're looking for, it mi..."

Could be the same poster?

The post from StraightDope also adds this

"AMitY was usually called Amy, and electricity was commonly generated by people riding stationary bikes."

[Nadine]

I read The Passage and it is very different. In the future of The Passage, humanity is close to extinct and there are only few settlements of humans. (I really enjoyed the book and am looking forward to part 2 which came out recently.)

The one you are looking for DOES sound like a book I would want to read!

[Pamela]

Yes, I'm the same poster as on the Straight Dope Message Board. I agree, The Passage isn't the one. Hopefully, someone will come up with the answer.

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen]

Do you remember something of the cover?

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen]

Pamela wrote: "Yes, I'm the same poster as on the Straight Dope Message Board. I agree, The Passage isn't the one. Hopefully, someone will come up with the answer."

I suspected as much. I hope someone will be able to find it,it sounds very interesting :)

[Pamela]

I don't remember the cover, but I'm pretty sure it was a hardback.

[Cheryl]

I just checked the StraightDope message board and they never solved it, either.

[Andy]

Bumping, because I'd love to see this one get found.

[Cheryl]

unfortunately Pamela has apparently abandoned this

[Pamela]

No, I haven't abandoned it. Sorry, I didn't know how to bump it.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Just type "bump" or anything else, Pamela. I've moved you back into Unsolved.

[Tess]

Someone on Straight Dope suggested "Dreamer" by Rich Cook, in the February 1988 Analog. (is that a magazine?) Any confirmation?

[Pamela]

It was definitely a book, not a story, but I suppose it could have been an excerpt.

[Tess]

Pamela wrote: "It was definitely a book, not a story, but I suppose it could have been an excerpt."Ahhh... goodluck finding it! I had hoped it was solved when I saw that other message board.

[Pamela]

Remembered another incident from this novel: the heroine has always wanted to be friends with another girl that lives near her. (This isn't permitted.) The other girl's name is mODestY. (I don't remember which letters were capitalized.) Finally, AMitY works up the nerve to speak to her and wish her good luck on receiving her assignment for life. mODestY hisses "Offense!" and walks away.

[Ayshe]

This Time of Darkness is probably not it as reviewers do not mention the things you do, but the girl is Amy?

[Andy]

H. M. Hoover seems to have written a bunch of YA dystopias in the 1980s - maybe one of those is it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._M._Ho...

[Andy]

Tess wrote: "Someone on Straight Dope suggested "Dreamer" by Rich Cook, in the February 1988 Analog. (is that a magazine?) Any confirmation?"

I think that was the answer to a different question that came up in the Straight Dope thread.

[Andy]

Hey, I found a case-sensitive search engine http://casesensitivesearch.com - might want to try it on AMitY, etc.

[Pamela]

It's not by H.M. Hoover. (I've read a number of books by her, though.)

It's not This Time of Darkness.

The case sensitive search engine had no results for AMitY.

Thanks anyway!

[Pamela]

bUmP

[Pamela]

Bump.

I remembered a couple of other things about this book. I think the cover was at least partly blue and green, with scenery as the illustration, not people. AMitY was attracted to the son of the wealthy family she worked for, and he liked her back. AMitY's friend pRUdencE, who was going to be sterilized, had ambitions to become a concubine, which was considered a great job for someone like her. She said, "Me for the jolly life of a steri!"

[Pamela]

Bump. Found a discussion of what seems to be my book here: http://the-toast.net/2013/10/28/name-...

Added details are that AMitY makes plans about escaping in a "privacy booth" and the title might have "Tunnel" or "Door" in it. (I kind of think "Door" might be in it, myself."

[Tanya]

Pamela wrote: "Bump. Found a discussion of what seems to be my book here: http://the-toast.net/2013/10/28/name-...

Added details are that AMitY makes plans about escaping in ..."

This book quest has been so endlessly fascinating and I'm probably as obsessed with finding it as you are :P

[Ayshe]

I think I found it! Portal to E'Ewere by Irma Walker
The Northeast has become a community of citizens disciplined to act and feel aloof even though they live in crowded conditions. But AMitY wants more out of life; she wants to experience the beauty of being close to people. Marriage to ConCord is her only chance for this experience, but his father was responsible for the death of AMitY's parents. ConCord can help AMitY find herself and paradise, but her guilt may prevent her from realizing her dreams. Books For You: A Booklist For Senior High Students

In an intensely overpopulated future, no one is ever alone. Privacy means not looking at others, never touching, except for mandated coupling. Amity longs to be alone and finds a dream world through a portal only visible to her brother and herself, but must leave before humanity destroys it. Children's Book Review Service, 1983

[Pamela]

I think you're right! I'll try to get this book to confirm. Thanks!

[Pamela]

I just got the book through interlibrary loan, and Portal to E'Ewere by Irma Walker is correct! Thanks so much, Ayshe. I've been searching for it for at least five years.