Required Reading, The Hunger Games?

When I was in high school our required reading included classical literature. Now it’s The Hunger Games. My son had to read it, I had to buy it, so I read it. It was okay. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. I would suggest some alternative reads.

Here are some quotes lifted from Wikipedia about The Hunger Games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games

“… Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) names the major themes of The Hunger Games as "government control, 'big brother', and personal independence".^[13]”  I would suggest reading 1984  by George Orwell. If you want to check out “Big Brother” go to the source.

“The Capitol makes watching the games required viewing.^[12] The theme of power and downfall, similar to that of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, was pointed out by Scholastic.^{[14] “}  Again I would suggest going to the source, Julius Caesar  by William Shakespeare.

“Donald Brake from The Washington Times, as well as Jessica Groover from the Independent Tribune, states that the story has Christian themes,…” If you’re looking for Christian themes then go for Moby Dick  by Herman Melville.


I want to point out that The Hunger Games is published by Scholastic, the ubiquitous school publisher. Do you think big publishing has taken a sales lesson from big pharma and are calling on the local dispensers (In this case librarians and English teachers.)  to push their wares? Schools all ready receive a percentage from their sponsored Scholastic book fairs. Are they just taking the next step?