How old to read The Hunger Games?

[CatKitson]

Is 10 too young?

[AuntieStella]

It went round our year 6 last term, and it seemed to be OK (was in our house and DC's friends, at least). that was summer, so most of them were 11 by then. But it's probably OK for year 6 and upwards. If you're not sure, read them yourself first.

[CatKitson]

Well obviously I could read it myself first, but I wanted to avoid that dubious pleasure if at all possible, and wondered what other people thought.

Imagine if everyone got that response if they asked a question on mumsnet!

[SoupDragon]

This depends entirely on your child - no one can really say yes or no.

DS2 read it at the end of Y6 and (without having actually read it) I reckon he would have been OK aged 10. He read Cherub aged 10.

[SoupDragon]

(I mention Cherub as it has some quite graphic violence in it in places)

[CatKitson]

I guess Ill fuck off and read it myself then!

[AuntieStella]

I'm sorry that my post was not welcome.

If you search MN, you'll find there are over 400 hits for "Hunger Games" (though some of them are about feeding issues). You might find the answer you want among the various discussions of what the books are like. But as many of them do contain the advice "read them yourself" (for no other poster will know your particular DC's quirks), perhaps that's not a welcome suggestion either. The discussions in the 'adult books' forum might perhaps be more acceptable.

[SoupDragon]

Er... OK then, OP. Sorry that we are unable to see into the mind of a 10 year old we've never met and tell you whether it's Ok for him to read a book.

[Handsfulloffun]

Maybe you should read this too op.

[Noren]

The previous posters are quite correct, but I'll do a bit of a summary to help you decide:

• this series are promoted primarily to teens and held in young adult sections of libraries and bookshops as they could easily offend parents/upset children
  
• they deal with some heavy weight emotional themes: ptsd, death/violence of people you care about/people who don't deserve to die i.e. good characters that in other stories might survive, there is no sense that "things work out for the best for the nice people" - it's dark in a true to life sort of way
  
• a level of emotional maturity is required to parse what is going on with the characters throughout the series, comparable with older teens and which seems to go over the heads of many adults who read it in my experience
  
• they are thrilling/exciting so it's likely that a child might keep reading even if much of it's going over their head
  
• the film version was cut down a lot to make it a 12. Many readers expected it to be a 15 or an 18.
  
• the advice that you should read it holds because if your child is affected by what they are reading you are available to talk it over with them and help them make sense of it.

[campergirls]

'I could read it myself first, but I wanted to avoid that dubious pleasure'. Give it a go, you might be pleasantly surprised. Gripping story-telling; direct, lucid writing; political and moral complexity, and more emotional depth than many adult books I've read recently - they are hugely enjoyable reads IMO.

DD1 read them when she was 10, rising 11, and loved them, as did a few of her year 6 mates. I can't see dd2 being ready for them at the same age (unless some drastic transformations occur in the very near future!). So I also have to say 'it depends on the 10 year old'.

[SimplyTes]

I read it before my son, he is 10 ands read all three books in less than two weeks as he enjoyed them so much.

[maggiethecat]

OP must be engrossed in the series.

[Startailoforangeandgold]

DD was 14 and loved it as do her 14 and 15yo friends.

She say's I'd hate it. She hasn't encouraged her Y7 sister to read them. She has lent her Twilight and another Vampire thing, but not hunger games.

Personally I'd steer a 10y towards Percy Jackson and Alex Rider.

I tend to trust DD1 I think HG can wait until senior school.

[Startailoforangeandgold]

13-15 y friends

[MrsWembley]

We've just read this for our book group!

Honestly, read it for yourself, only you can judge with a ten-yr old. I'd say possibly not a good idea but you could have a very mature ten-yr old there. Some of the books I was reading at 11/12 were far more 'serious' but I was reading that stuff on a regular basis.

It is very good.

[CatKitson]

Well I ended up being badgered into reading it by dd. The themes are a bit too adult for her right now, and Ive asked her to wait a bit. Im a bit of a book snob, I suppose, but it did pass a few hours. [hsmile]...ok...it was actually good. I admit it. [hblush]

[Eggrules]

I just finished it and I loved it too.

[MrsWembley]

Make sure you read the next two; refreshingly good for sequels.

[Eggrules]

Loved them all.

My DS is 5, however, I think at 10, they will be suitable. I read scary books at that age and was only a bit older when I read books like Stephen King.

[nickeldaisical]

don't avoid it!


it's a bloody excellent read.

Glad you read it. It's one of those "depends on the child", but I put it in my teenage section (which only has books in that I do not feel are suitable for younger readers). ie. most under 13s will not be able to handle it.