Banned Books Week: The Hunger Games

This week, in honor of "Banned Books Week," I will be taking a look at some of the books that I have read that fall into the "banned" category.  For me info on the different books that have been banned, check out this site: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10



Book series: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Science Fiction
Plot: Katniss replaces her younger sister as tribute in a fight to the death between 24 young tributes.  The Games are punishment for a rebellion against The Capital.
Books:

1. The Hunger Games
2. Catching Fire
3. Mockingjay

Reasons why it is "banned:"  anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
My overall rating: 4 stars

This book series has gained immense popularity and acclaim but has stirred up some controversy.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it but I can see why some people might want to ban it. 

Anti-ethnic:  This had never occurred to me.  Looking back, most of the characters are white, although Rue is described as dark skinned.  With the nature of the current state of affairs, a widespread ethnic cleansing or ethnic flight would not have surprised me which may explain why most of the characters are white.  I don't think it's necessarily wrong to have only one ethnic group in your writing. 

Anti-family:  I'm not sure why this is a reason either.  Katniss is in a single parent family.  The love of her sister puts her into the arena in the first place.  The conditions in which the normal people live are pretty appalling so it's not a surprise that families aren't always perfect.  Unless they're referring to the fact that families are ripped apart by the games. 

Insensitivity:  The book is set in a hostile world so there is a bit of insensitivity.  It comes with the territory.

Offensive language:  There's a bit but I don't remember it bothering me much.  I've seen worse.

Occult/satanic:  I don't remember any elements of this in the book at all. 

Violence:  This is about the only true reason I can find in this whole list.  The book is very violent.  Children die.  My husband refuses to read the book because of the violence against children.  The point of this book is to show a revolution and revolutions are generally bloody.  However, it is not senseless violence, the violence does have a teachable meaning behind it.  I'm not sure if that makes it any better.

As a parent, I have no qualms about reading this book to my children but I would probably wait until they were middle schoolers.  It opens up a lot of discussion points that I think are important. 

Dune is a YA Novel?

A friend of mine posted an article last week on Facebook that I found interesting.  It's title: When Did Dune Become a YA Novel?

The author of the article was surprised when he found out that Dune, the classic and complex science fiction novel by atheist Frank Herbert, was considered a Young Adult (YA) novel.  After some further research, he discovered that the American Library Association (ALA) defines YA as anything that 12-18 year olds are willing to read, a definition that he finds "squishy."

I had always thought that YA literature was, well, literature aimed at young adults.  Literature with slightly more complex and mature themes compared with "Children's literature."  Literature that was "safe" for young adults to read.  Needless to say, this changes my approach. 

Under this definition, if 12-18 year olds are reading say, Fifty Shades of Gray, it becomes "YA Literature."  This is something I think parents and teachers need to be on the look out for.

Censorship and the banned book list is a rather complex topic that should be saved for its own post.  However, as a parent and pre-service teacher, I think there are books that are not appropriate for children and young adults to read.  I do think the "banned books" advocates take it to the extreme (I recently found out that Green Eggs and Ham is on the banned list, seriously?). 

What I think we can take away from all of this is that "YA" does not necessarily equal "safe."  Parents should always know what their children are reading and take appropriate steps from there.  Know the content of the books your child is reading.  If you haven't read the book, Google it.  Wikipedia and Goodreads can easily get you a synopsis.  Knowing the content helps you open a dialogue about the appropriateness of the book or, if it's too late for that, discussing the questionable content of a particular book.  After all, knowledge is power.