The Hunger Games

Another gushing post? Maybe. What can I say? I loved the book. A quick rundown:

• The Hunger Games shows a society that, like Feed, isn't all that far-fetched. Granted, I don't think we'll get to that point, it's still conceivable that it could happen. (Something to think about: how are the Hunger Games similar to the Olympics?)
• You had to know Peeta was really in love with Catnip, despite his protestations near the middle of the novel.
• There's alot of fodder for discussion from this novel, including discussion about many different aspects of life--among them:
• (nested bullets? YUP!) Autocracies, dictatorships, etc.
• Upper/middle/lower classes and their roles and histories
• Hunting/gathering societies
• Mining towns
• Whether it's a good idea to have different sectors responsible for certain things, and how that relates to the history of the U.S. (steel belt, sun belt, wheat belt, etc.) and the U.S. today
• The pros and cons of an autocratic nation
• Rebellion and/or standing up for your rights and the rights of all people
• Friendship and love
• Connections to "The Lottery"
• Other connections to literature and pop culture (Twisted Metal games, the movie Gamer, etc.)
• ...and I'm out of ideas for the moment, but that's a pretty solid list to start out with. Like I said: there's alot
•  Catnip, maybe less than halfway through the book, reminds us about rebelling against the Capitol, making it clear that, at the end, she'll be left making an agreement with someone that they won't kill each other. I expected that. But I also expected the Capitol to let the muttations eat them.
• We've only finished one book out of three; in the next one it'll be interesting to see how things work out with Gale, and I have no idea what to expect form the final book. The fact that it's a trilogy gives even more opportunities for discussion whether or not the other books are ever read in class.

Teaching Hunger Games with Feed or Fahrenheit 451 might be a good idea. Depending on the level, maybe contrasting it with The Giver would even be good. The Giver is a portrayal of a utopian society rather than a dystopian society, but it questions whether that society really is a Utopia or not. I think the discussions resulting from contrasting the two would be very interesting and meaningful no matter what the level in high school. Middle school might provide less opportunity for fruitful discussions comparing and contrasting the two societies, and I would anticipate some push-back against reading The Hunger Games in a middle-school classroom, but I don't think I'd be opposed to teaching it there.