The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins is comprised of three books: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay.  I devoured these books while on vacation last winter.  Very entertaining YA fiction.  In a post-apocalyptic North America, the nation of Panem has a shining Capitol surrounded by 12 outlying districts.  The Capitol forces all of the Districts to send one boy and one girl to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.  The books tell the story of Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl from District 12 who volunteers to take her younger sister's place in the Games.

These bestselling books have become so popular they are being made into a movie franchise (surprise, surprise!)  I am looking forward to rereading the trilogy in anticipation of the release of the first movie at the end of March.  I have high hopes for the movie.  The action packed storyline seems like it would be easily adapted to the silver screen, and the trailers look very promising.

 

Speaking of excellent YA fiction, a friend forwarded me a link to this essay "The Kids' Books Are All Right" by Pamela Paul.  The essay reflects upon the young adult reading habits of older adults.  Basically, the message is that we need not be embarrassed about still reading kids' books because we are not alone!  Many of the fans of YA fiction (The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, The Dark is Rising, The Mortal Instruments, Percy Jackson and the Olympians ... dare I say it? Twilight!) are highly educated, full-fledged adults.  I particularly like one of the quotes from the article: "... good Y.A. is like good television. There’s a freshness there; it’s engaging. Y.A. authors aren’t writing about middle-aged anomie or ­disappointed people."  Exactly.  I often find the more socially acceptable adult reading material (Governor General Literary Award, English lit type material) to be exceedingly dry and depressing.  Or, to quote again from the article, "all art and no heart."  Luckily there is a wealth of excellent YA fiction out there offering a welcome alternative for readers of all ages who are looking for some fun, fast-paced mental escapism in their recreational reading material.