My friend from Up North told me that her 13-year-old boy's favorite book is The Hunger Games. It's apparently very popular among his set. So I tried it with The Boy. Big mistake.
My sweet boy didn't even make it through the first two pages. He got to the place where the ugly yellow cat hates the narrator because she had tried to drown it as a kitten. I had to explain that way back when, before they had cats fixed, people would sometimes drown a litter of kittens because there were too many already. Y'know, better than letting them starve as adults. When times are hard, sometimes you just can't feed another hungry mouth.
He is now too sad to read at all. Possibly ever again.
What does that say about my kid? Srsly, 'cause I have no idea...
3 comments:
Well, dystopian fiction isn't everyone's cup of tea. My son started it because it's ALL THE RAGE at his school and I think he likes it so far, but not as much as Percy Jackson.
I didn't know about that scene, but I'm glad I know now. DS once checked out a book called "The Cat Who Went to Heaven." I didn't pre-read it because at the time I was thrilled that he'd picked out something fiction. Anyway, that was three years ago, and he STILL cries about it. I think it means they're just wired differently.
I think it says something really sweet about your kiddo. Hunger Games is dark, disturbing stuff. The fact that it's marketed to the tween crowd gives me pause. I know my nearly 11 yo isn't ready for it.
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