Before you head to see the movie, READ THE BOOK. Just the first one, on which the current movie is based, is fine. Don't get your first taste of Hunger Games from the movie.
The real magic of the Hunger Games series is that the books, intended as "teen fiction", read on another level for adults. My preteen read an action packed, futuristic, dark series about a game and an uprising, with robust characters with whom she could identify because they are roughly her age.
With adult life experience, much of the first book read like history. Similar to feudal times, no hunting is allowed because the "Capital" owns the game. Yet, families are starving- supplied just enough to keep them alive to serve the need they meet for the Capital. District 12, where the heroine Katniss lives, is suggestive of a work camp. At the conclusion of the series, I was left with the conclusion that in any organized society, there is no such thing as absolute freedom.
Recommendations of the young adult novel are coming from a growing number of adult men and there is certainly enough violence to appeal to the testosterone crowd. Yet, I still green lighted the first book for my preteen because the violence has a very clear purpose. Survival. Later in the series, that premise fails and violence becomes about power....more deep stuff and one of many themes that support my encouragement that parents read the books before deciding if they are appropriate for your child. Then discuss, discuss, discuss. Other conversation starters include suicide and alcohol/drug addiction.
Bottom line....not just great reads, great literature. Think Lord of the Flies, not Twilight.
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