Year 6 - The Hunger Games - suitable?

[EdithWeston]

These books seem to be going round year 6 faster than norovirus.

Should I be bracing myself for nightmares etc, or are they young enough to be less bothered?

My son read them in Y6 - no adverse reactions to them. Although he is fairly thick skinned when it comes to that sort of thing.

DD1 is 14, she and her 13 yo male friend really enjoyed them. One character dying near the end made her feel sad.

She says they are very violent and that I wouldn't like them. (she's right I have no iteration of easing them).

I honestly think they should wait till 12, but I'm sure end of primary bravo will make them appeal to year six.

Personally I'd steer more sensitive souls towards Percy Jackson, the Kane chronicles, Alex Ryder, cherub, I am number four, skulduggery etc.

There are lots of threads in children's books with suggestions.

Intention

He's fine with Percy Jackson and Alex Rider; the Hunger Games are the ones doing the rounds at the moment and I want to be prepared!

I found them very violent and a couple of the deaths really violent. The final death gave me nightmares for a little while.

I saw the film on Friday and they had to tone it down a bit to achieve the 12A certificate iykwim.

23 children die in the film, some very violently.

The book also involves the main character's feeling being manipulated for the public's entertainment.

The is also some political rebellion in the story which might well be lost on a younger reader.

If they are really robust and used to violence then it might not bother them but my dd (11) would be deeply disturbed and would not understand a lot of it either, despite being a decent reader and bright enough for her age.

My dd is 11 and absolutely loves the Hunger Games, has read the set four or five times in the last month or two. The last one did give her nightmares first time around, and she now doesn't read it too close to bed time. They are very good, so if in doubt you could always read them yourself first (I did this when dd wanted to read Twilight, although that was more for dodgy sexist stuff).

I wouldn't recommend it to an 11 year old to be honest but you probably can't stop them getting hold of them. Although they are violent, they are not amoral books, quite the reverse so that the violence is in context and it's made clear how horrible it is. I would read them yourself as well because then they can come to you and talk about how it made them feel. If a very sensitive child then nightmares would not surprise me - in your situation I would warn them this might happen but leave the decision about reading them up to you. The film is a bit less upsetting.

Yes, I will have to get my hands on them first. But I'm wondering I they'll give me nightmares!

Edith despite what I said, I would strongly recommend reading them yourself. I have only read the first so far and it is a real page turner so either go to bed early or be prepared to be up half the night reading it.

I read the first book on my kindle and was surprised when ds 11 came home from school and said he wanted to read it. I pre warned him it was about children killing children and he still founds bit hard especially the likeable characters dying - apart from Dobby in HP he'd not come across that before. He had to put the book down a couple of times and go and do something distracting but tells me he loves it even though it's really scary.

The whole concept is children killing children in a big arena while being filmed in Big Brother style. Pretty grim.

The other thing is there isn't any let up really, no humour of funny bits to break up the bleakness of the story.

Just to clarify - there is no gore or graphic descriptions of death, no sex or bad language but the whole story is based around violence if that makes sense?

spoiler alert

There is a graphic description of the sounds of the final competitor being eaten alive slowly by "wolves". It happens over a fairly long period of time and ends with him begging the main character to kill him to put him out of his misery.

That haunted me and gave me nightmares for a few days after reading the book.

Oh whoops so there is, I forgot that bit! Sorry

Personally having read them myself I would not like my 11 year old to read them. I really dislike the subject matter for that age - killing each other for peoples entertainment effectively.

I have just been trying to remember what I was reading at 12 - lots of Jilly Cooper IIRC and leafed through The Happy Hooker - parents' bookshelf

Just finished reading the first book of the trilogy. I's quite gruesome in parts, so probably a bit violent for a sensitive Year 6, but I personally didn't find the violence gratuitous. Actually found the idea of Roman-style, state-sponsored violence quite thought provoking, but then I'm 31! I think ideally it's more of a teenage read, as you'd need to grasp the underlying themes of excessive state/media control and celebrity culture/voyeurism in order for the violence to fit in with the plot.

my year 7 ds has just read these and loved them - he said at their last library lesson before the holidays virtually everyone in his class was reading them, so they're certainly sweeping through pre-teen circles around here

Iteration of easing them

Clearly I meant intention of reading them!

I wish you could edit illiterate posts.

Many thanks for such helpful replies.

DH read the book, and decided it was OK for Year 6 boy. He's starting it today (claiming that "everyone" in his year has read it, and appearing to have some knowledge of the content and really wanting to read it). So fingers crossed for no nightmares.

Can an average 11 year old really undersand "Hunger games" through?
I don't think mine could, in fact I know my wouldn't!!

Maybe DD has bigger "issues" than I thought!

year 6 dd has read and enjoyed books 1 and 2, but started to get a bit lost in the complexity of book 3 - she is a reasonably sensitive little soul and would have said if anything upset her (ie she was sad in a way she could not name about Cadpig (is it?) in 101 Dalmations loooking wistfully at a crib!). I think they're ok.

Am in two minds about giving her the Charlie HIgson zombie books though - one of her friends has read them, and she wants to, but they are fairly horrific!

My 10 year old, year 6 son has loved them. He's nearly finished all 3 in 2 weeks. They're the first books that have grabbed and fascinated him in ages.