Yes, there is a reason why your eleven year old shouldn’t read the Hunger Games, and it’s not what you think.

As an avid reader, English teacher and tutor I have come to a strange sort of paradox.  Parents that I run into are desperate to engage the mind of their brilliant child with something more than social media or video games, and I am often asked the question, what would you recommend that I can give them to read? Without any offense meant to Suzanne Collins, I do not recommend The Hunger Games.  I really do love this push for literacy and building a love of reading into a child, and am very happy with the endlessly creative works of fiction I see garnishing the shelves of Chapters intent on sharing the love of reading.  Growing up I can’t think of one significant memory of my own where my nose wasn’t shoved into a book.  I lived in my imagination – just ask my math teachers.   However, books written and classified as “Youth Fiction” do not necessarily mean that these growing and intensely popular forms of fiction are appropriate for children hot on their way to adolescence.

Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games is a post-apocalyptic story, penned in a unique and fascinating style, where the unfortunate inhabitants of Panem are forced to remember the time when their revolutionary ideas failed, in the form of the Hunger Games.  Two children, one boy, and one girl are chosen to represent their district, to fight to the very death against one another until there is only one survivor.  In the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen volunteers as tribute to save her younger sister’s life, and over the course of the trilogy turns right the wrongs of an Empire. 

I found the books to be both riveting and disturbing, demanding that the reader question the images one takes in, called “reality” to recognize the truth behind it.  This is a story told before a brutal and bloody backdrop, where children are forced to make life-and-death decisions and ultimately kill to survive.  It calls to the surface our basic instincts, and asks if forced, could one kill in order to survive? Is love between two people, real or perceived? Is it important to stand up for what is right, even in the face of death?

While these messages are all valid, important and not to mention exciting, especially prompted in such a fresh way, youth fiction doesn’t necessarily mean “youth.” Of course it is difficult to put a proper “age” on who should or shouldn’t read a book, in my teaching and tutoring experience I have connected with three students, all three in early Junior High grades.  These students were each exposed to the book through the media attention and the movie that was released not long ago.  I’ve always found that a movie based on the book, is usually only a shadow of the pages the book was penned on.  The movie is often enjoyable of course, but I often walk away bemoaning the parts of the book that the movie did not effectively portray.  I think that is where the problem lies, these students who want to be caught up in the excitement from the movie pick up the book, but because of their age cannot experience the book in the way a more mature person can.  In attempting to help one student with a homework assignment in regards to The Hunger Games, she could not understand why she should include critical parts of the story in a report and was only able to focus on the gruesome reality that was children killing children for no other reason except that they were expected to.  In some cases the focus rests on the romantic relationship between the Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, missing Katniss’ struggle to understand her own equal and opposing feelings for a boy who both loves her, and is tasked with murdering her. Not to mention the on-camera, off-camera reality vs. perceived reality throughout the entire book. 

This is not just an adventure story about kids killing kids – the purpose behind it is deeper than that, if I can imagine to read into what the author intended, then I would advise parents searching for some piece of fiction to grab their child’s interest, do some research.  Don’t just listen to what the media says is popular.  There are books out there for every age and every level.  Be an active participant, and read what your kids are reading. Build their love of fiction at a level they can understand, at a level where they can absorb the significance behind the story.  These children are bright, and eager to learn.  Engage them on a level that provides excitement and adventure, not the level where they are so overwhelmed by a story they can barely absorb the plot line presented to them at face value.  The last thing a parent wants in a young reader, is frustration.  There may come a time, a few years down the road when your child is interested in reading a book that right now is a bit mature for their level – if their love of reading has been fostered through material that they can absorb and grow in step by step, then I guarantee, they will love reading not only The Hunger Games but they will be able to appreciate and think deeply about books on all levels.