This question originally appeared on Quora.
A.J. Juliani, Teacher, Colllabo Co-Founder.
This answer has to be ultimately decided by the specific parent, but as a middle school and high school English teacher (and parent) I can give some insight to better help you make a decision:
- The books are violent, and the violence is described in detail sometimes. This is important because if you wanted to "rate" this book like a movie I'd probably give it a PG-13 rating.
- I've had students come into 9th grade (this past year) telling me that they read the Hunger Games when it came out a few years ago. A large contingent of these 9th grade girls (and some boys) were still 13 yrs old, putting their age at the time of reading at 10, 11, or 12. They all seemed "ok" with the violence, and did not mention this topic while discussing the book as a class. However, I do not know the discussions they had with parents and/or friends at the time of reading.
- My grandmother read the books and said they were extremely violent. She could not believe it was a YA (young adult) book, with that much detailed violence. Shows a bit of a generation gap there ...
- What books has your child already read? What movies do you let him/her watch? What TV shows do they watch? What web sites do they frequent? All of these answers can lead to a better idea of whether or not your child will be able to handle the content in this series. (I wish there was a website or app that would rank all of this type of content together for parents to view...startup idea anyone???)
- The last point I'd like to make is that these books are great discussion books. If you read it along with your child it can have the potential for huge teaching moments and talks about some deeper (and harder to understand) topics. Well worth it in my opinion as both a teacher and a parent.
More questions on The Hunger Games:
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I also think that it's important for parents not to treat these stories as mere brain candy, but that they use them as a springboard for discussion. I for one find it troubling that the author never really addresses the possibility of passive resistance by the Tributes, other than to say that their families would have been punished if they had tried it. The only answer to the oppression by the Capitol that she offers is armed uprisings. Parents could use these stories to get their kids interested in the alternative approaches used successfully by Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Corazon Aquino.