Second paragraph of Part Three:

Do I decide for myself what to do next, or let someone else decide for me? If I decide for myself it seems I have two options. I can move on from here with Stewart. Or I can return underground.

An Australian YA post-apocalyptic novel, where a teen girl and boy (and his faithful basset hound, Stewart) take the first tentative steps to rebuilding society. Her parents have eked out a living on the surface of a devastated and polluted world for years; his people have retreated underground to hide from the poisoned planet. Nothing very remarkable plot-wise, but the protagonists’ voices are caught distinctively and believably. You can get it here.

We discover at the very end of the book that the whole story is set in 2025, which was my reason for reading it – yet another dystopia for next year…

Set in 2025:
Television: The Outer Limits: The Duplicate Man (1964)
Film: Endgame (Bronx lotta finale) (1983); Future Hunters (1986); Futuresport (1998); Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision (2003)
Novels: 334 (1972); Titan (1979); The Running Man (1982); The Lake at the End of the World (1988); Tom Clancy’s Net Force Explorers: Virtual Vandals (1998); A Friend of the Earth (2000); The Peshawar Lancers (2002)
Comics: The Nikopol Trilogy: The Woman Trap (1986); Superman & Batman: Generations III #2: Doomsday Minus One (2003)