The Hunger Games

Recommended Grades 6-9.  Katniss Everdeen charts her way through a dystopian world in Suzanne Collin's young adult novel, The Hunger Games (Scholastic 2008).  Katniss, a resident of District 12, a township in a post-apocolyptic North America is selected as a contestant in a nationally broadcast reality show in a ceremony ominously labeled the "Reaping."  Far from the emotional backstabbing of today's reality television challenges, the twenty-four teenage contestants of the "Hunger Games" must literally stab each other in the back, or kill them in some other way that will please audiences watching in the glittering Capitol.  With Katniss, Collins has created a brave and independent leading lady of emotional depth, and considerable skill.  In addition to fighting to survive, Katniss must also reckon with the forces many teenage girls can recognize; a dysfunctional family, a televised public image and a complicated love triangle.  In this way  The Hunger Games does what few YA books can do; it appeals to both boys and girls with heart-pounding adventure, breath-taking romance, and more than a hint of political subversion.  Highly recommended, ****.