Reflections: The Hunger Games & Teens Reading

This isn't a post I planned to write, but I feel like mentioning something I've noticed: A lot more teens reading.

So why are they?

Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games.

I first read the YA novel in 2009, right after its paperback release, and the release of the series' second book, Catching Fire. I read the first book fairly quickly, drawn in by the plot. Just in case you're not familiar with it, here's the synopsis:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.

This book definitely isn't a bore. It's plotted very well. However, none of the characters stuck with me after my first read through. Yesterday, I reread the novel, and had more appreciation for them, but still no mind-blowers. It's not that they're underdeveloped - it's just that, being pretty well-read, they don't stand out for me.

Hunger Games fan art.

They definitely stand out for most teens. I've mostly gotten this sense by scrolling through Tumblr. I've got to have seen a million artsy photos of the books, pages with highlighted quotes, and fan art. Then, there was a girl at school the other day, who was going on forever about how she'd stayed up till 2 AM to read the first half of the first book. It was the first time she'd read (or planned to read) an entire novel since elementary school.

That's several years. Of barely reading.

Anyway, as I've mentioned, I've been reading the books again. I gave them to a friend and borrowed them back for spring break, and I'm already farther than I was three years ago. I got through the first book about just as fast, then stayed up to 2 AM, ironically, to get as far as I could in the second. (Page 328 of 391, when exhaustion had simply caused the words to lose meaning.) I'm still not in love with the characters, but I've got more respect for them. And I do plan to buy Mockingjay, the third and final book of the series.

So what's my point? I'm not sure I've got one. I suppose I just find it odd that, for the first time, I fail to be swept up by a teen reading phenomenon. (Even Twilight I loved originally, though I did happen to be 12.) Instead, when I read the books, my inner editor scrambles to mention possible improvements. I find Katniss's love life much less interesting than the underlying messages about technology and entertainment and the media (plus lots of similarites between the Capitol and Rome), which I hope other teens will also recognize. I'm also hoping that the movie, which I'm seeing tonight, will focus on these themes. Fingers certainly crossed.

Have you read the books? Did they sweep you up or leave you bored to tears? What about the movie? And what about all these teens reading?