Why are teens so interested in "Hunger Games" and the like?
From a piece in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune...
Teens and parents alike are devouring these books, which carry a strong message beyond the shock value. Collins' primary theme is war, but the book also addresses issues of privacy, poverty, class, oppression and individualism.
"Dystopian and apocalyptic fiction has been around for a long time," said young-adult author Laura Ruby, who teaches in Hamline University's MFA program in writing for children and young adults.
"This comes right out of 'Fahrenheit 451,' 'Brave New World,' '1984,' " she said. "Each of those books sort of captured that generation's specific anxieties. And what writers do a lot of times is just extrapolate and exaggerate from the horrors they see every day."
Unlike apocalyptic novels written for adults, YA dystopian fiction generally ends on a redemptive, positive note.
"The point is not to dwell on the apocalypse, but to survive it," Ruby said. "These books, I think, offer some sort of hope, as violent as they can be."
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