Are you too young for the Hunger Games?

I thought I'd open this one up to all of my students who have finished reading Mockingjay. Note: If you haven't finished reading the book yet, you may want to stop reading here. I can't guarantee we won't give away any important plot points!

I finished the book this weekend, and I've read a lot of comments online (from authors, literary agents, publishers) about the violence in this series. Some people think the book glorifies violence and desensitizes young people to how bad war really is. Others think that the violence in the book isn't any worse than what you see in movies, TV, and video games nowadays.

Some people say only older teens should be reading the Hunger Games, but I know many of you started reading the series back in fifth grade, maybe even fourth.

What do you think? What age is too young to read the Hunger Games? Does the book glorify war? Is it any worse than what you see in movies, TV shows, or video games? How did you feel at the end of the book--horrified, frightened, grateful you don't live in that society?

If you post a comment, please remember not to include your full name or give away any personal information, including the name of our school or the town. Make sure it is O.K. with your parents if you post online.

As always, I have the comment moderation function on. This means that all comments must be approved by me before they will appear online. If your comment is inappropriate or gives away personal information, it will not appear on this blog.

TREE HUGGERS by Mrs. Ellis

Congratulations to my co-worker, Mrs. Ellis, who just had her first book published! You can check out her book by clicking here.

In fact, you can even read the first few pages online. Her main character has a really nice "voice" in this book. We'll be studying "voice" as a writing trait later in the year. :)