The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008)
Honestly, I have been quasi-aware of this text for several years now, but it is only now that I have finallly entered the dystopian world of the Capitol and its Districts. And, wow, am I thrilled that I did! Normally my YALit choices deal with older protagonists in a realistic setting. Reading Hunger Games has brought me back to some of the literature I loved as a child (A Wrinkle in Time, the Xanth series, even the Black Caldron). The connections that could be made between Katniss and Peeta 's world and the ongoing current world events would be a valuable lesson to be used in classes or in discussion. Think of the questions that could be made by comparing this text and the fate of the child soldiers in the Sudan or the idea of a wealthy central government with poverty sticken outlying regions... China? The motif of a centralized all-powerful government in a dystopian society can be paralleled in many classical texts too: Brave New World, 1984, and The Handmaid's Tale. In addition to these underlying themes, I really enjoyed Katniss's story: her bravery, her wit, her strength. I LOVE that the main character in this novel is female. It is so important that girls see problem-solving protagonists who use the strength of their minds and bodies to overcome their conflicts. I would like to see more of this in YALit.
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