The hunger games, for older children?

[Littlemoocow]

Now I should start by saying I haven't read these books, or seen the films. I was just browsing through a book catalogue which came through my door, and found the hunger games series, described as the perfect series for older children. I've googled the stories in the past and the content honestly horrifies me. I wouldn't want to watch these as an adult and would be appalled for a child to see those films. I guess as I've not seen the films or read the books, maybe it shouldn't judge them, but the theme is 2 children being selected to fight until one of them dies. Is there any way these are suitable for older children? AIBU and a massive old fashioned person or are they actually awful books and films for kids with quite a sinister theme? I will await your opinions!

Hulababy, I agree, which is why she hasn't read the 3rd book yet, I'm not sure she'd get it.

Also she tried the Phillip Pullman dark materials about 18 months ago and stopped as she wasn't enjoying them, has tried again recently and is absolutely loving them

Littlemoocow, I think when your children are very small, it's quite hard to visualise what they'll be like as they get older, IYSWIM.

A child of 11+ will be becoming more and more aware of the news and what is happening in the world, and I think books like the Hunger Games help them to make sense of a reality in which like it or not we have child soldiers, and for example they may be in school with refugee children who have run away from dreadful situations, or children who are living with domestic violence.

At least in HG and the other dystopian novels that are so popular now there is a very clear political point, and the teen characters in the books are able to work to make their world a better place.

More people died, and in worse ways, in Harry Potter...

Bit off-topic, but I like how the books feature a highly intelligent, self-sufficient female lead who openly doesn't give a toss about her looks, and never even thinks about 'being a girl'. It is good for boys and girls to read stories with such characters IMO. The world is full of strong girls, but you'd never know it going by some of the stuff aimed at kids (and adults, come to that).,

I agree, it's great to see a strong young woman striding through the forest hunting. I suspect she was my ds's first real crush

The books are about a central area, government and section of society, keeping the workers in the other districts in their place. This is done by holding an event each year where 1 boy and 1 girl is chosen from each district to play in the hunger games. Yes they are forced to kill each other in order to survive as there can only be one winner, but the books are about far more than that.

I agree with this ^ The books are better than the films because you get more background information that sets the scene rather than being straight into the actual 'games'.

I took my teens to see The Giver earlier today and just before the film started DD1 (18) said to DD2 (14) "This is going to be another one of those films where for 3 years mum is going to be talking about social injustice and stuff"

It turns out when we left the cinema they'd been having bets on how many minutes it would be before I started talking about it. We then had a conversation about whether equality can ever be total if diversity is accepted and encouraged as they were trapped in Pizza Hut with me The Hunger Games has prompted many a conversation about politics with my DDs and their friends over the years.

I think the age suitable to read these books, and others like them, would depend on the child in question. If My dc were particularly sensitive or prone to finding things like this upsetting then I probably wouldn't give them to them.
The first 'proper' grown up book I ever read was Stephen Kings IT, I was 13 and I abosolutly loved it. Before that I was reading the babysitter club books, saddler wells and the point horror books. From what I can remember of the latter they were terrifying! But I was mature enough to realise that they were fiction.

I would recommend that parents read things before giving them to their dc's but I'm so grateful that my dm didn't! She would never have let me read IT at the age I did if she'd known what it was about (and the language in the book!) and reading is still one of my great passions nearly 25yrs later thanks to my early reading choices.