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One of the best-selling teen books of all time (and the inspiration for a smash hit on the silver screen), THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins transports readers to a dystopian society with a legendary tradition to stop rebellion: teens from each district must fight to the death until one victor remains.

It’s dark. It’s violent. And it pulls at your heartstrings and makes you cry, think and cheer more than most YA books out there. Despite the book’s wild reception across the globe, it has frequently appeared on the American Library Association’s list of Top Ten Challenged Books since it was first published, generally for violence and because dissenters thought it was unsuited to the YA age group.

Below, YA author Katie Coyle (VIVIAN APPLE AT THE END OF THE WORLD, VIVIAN APPLE NEEDS A MIRACLE) and Teen Board member Hafsah K. talk about their own love of THE HUNGER GAMES and why think banning this modern classic is, in the kindest of terms, “unreasonable.”

Do you remember when you read this book for the first time? How old were you? Did you read it for school or for pleasure?

Katie Coyle: I was well out of school when THE HUNGER GAMES was first published, and I didn’t end up reading it until three years after that, under weird circumstances I remember perfectly: I was 24, I was spending a rainy summer week in Edinburgh and I had caught a bad cold on the flight over. My now-husband scoured our hostel’s bookshelves for something to distract me from my fever and what he found was the UK edition of THE HUNGER GAMES, which I’d heard of but not yet had the chance to read. I finished it in about a day --- the fever lasted longer than my reading experience.

Hafsah K.:I remember reading THE HUNGER GAMESsometime around seventh grade (I am now in ninth grade). I read it for pleasure --- I remember my older sister talking about how the book was really good and how she was waiting for the movie to be released. I don’t like to watch movies based off books without reading the book first, so I decided to try it out.

What do you like about this book, and how would you persuade somebody else to read it?

KC: The thing I love most about THE HUNGER GAMES is Katniss Everdeen herself. She’s maybe the most badass protagonist in all of literature, and she happens to be a teenage girl. I love Collins’s sly, subversive subplot, in which Katniss has to confront a kind of stereotypical femininity that doesn’t appeal to her, an identity based on dress-up and romance, in order to stay alive in the arena. As a teenager, I often felt frustrated by the idea that I wasn’t girly enough, pretty enough or desirable enough --- but I never had to worry, as Katniss does, that my brand of femininity was going to get me killed. There’s such a brilliant feminist undercurrent that runs through the trilogy. But if I was trying to persuade someone else to read it, I would probably tell them the simple truth, which is that I literally could not put it down.

HK: I love how this book is so well written, how you feel a personal connection to the characters. I love how THE HUNGER GAMESisn’t one of those typical stories about a romance. Yes, romance does play a big role in the setting, but not in the way expected. This is a story of how someone goes through so much to protect her younger sister. It’s about how you would do anything for family. It shows how you don’t have to have everything to be great or successful. Katniss comes from the worst district but still manages to win. If I wanted to persuade someone THE HUNGER GAMES, I would talk about how the book hooks you, how it is so realistic and the connection you make with the characters. Personally, I cried when I learned what happens to Rue, a young girl in the story.

According to the school board minutes at a New Hampshire middle school, a parent asked what THE HUNGER GAMES “teaches students as far as honor, ethics, and morals. [The parent] stated there is no lesson in this book except if you are a teenager and kill twenty-three other teenagers, you win the game and your family wins.” If you had the chance to respond to that quote, what would you say?

KC: I would point out that this parent’s description of THE HUNGER GAMES is also, essentially, a description of what it is like to be a soldier at war, and that THE HUNGER GAMESis, in the end, an incredibly powerful anti-war novel. Collins’s whole point is that sometimes war has nothing to do with honor, ethics or morals. Throughout the books, Katniss is at the mercy of powerful politicians who barely recognize her humanity, who only think of her as a pawn in a game they’re playing with one another. Katniss’s fear is always her most palpable emotion, along with her sense of hopelessness. She clearly suffers from PTSD, which I think Collins depicts in a realistic and affecting way. In our culture, the most popular narrative about war is a glorifying one --- the idea that one comes away from it feeling good, feeling like a hero. But the truth is a lot more complicated than that. From THE HUNGER GAMES, young readers can start to understand the complicated truth as well as the effect violence has on its victims and perpetrators.

HK: I would say that is not the purpose of this story; THE HUNGER GAMESis more than that. Yes, 24 teenagers are competing and have to kill each other, but you learn the value of family. You learn not to take what you have for granted. It shows how you have to find the best in every situation, and wow you have to think quickly in some situations. Katniss Everdeen comes from District Twelve, the district with the worst conditions. No one ever has hope for the tributes from District Twelve. They expect they will die within the first few hours of the game. Katniss proves them wrong. THE HUNGER GAMESteaches you that even if you are coming from a horrible home or you don’t have the same opportunities as others, you can still win. Everyone has the same chance to win. Don’t put yourself down because others act as if they are better.

You need to give the protagonist of this book a book recommendation. What would you recommend, and why?

KC: I would recommend that Katniss read E. Lockhart’s YA masterpiece THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS. I think Katniss would admire and draw inspiration from Frankie’s boldness in the face of injustice. I also think it’s a very funny book, and if there’s anything Katniss Everdeen needs, it’s a good laugh.  

HK:  If I were to give Katniss Everdeen a book recommendation, it would probably be THE PROGRAMby Suzanne Young. Katniss is used to the idea of rebellion and overthrowing societies that hold too much power. She would probably enjoy a book like this --- I know I did. It’s basically about how a highly trained team of doctors work to make their patients forget their troubled pasts and be happy again. As more patients enter the program, the chances of rebellion increase --- and that is exactly what happens.