How old for Hunger Games?

[skimomma]

My 10.5yo has been begging to read this series.  At what age has others been comfortable allowing it?  I know I should just read it myself but this is on a list for a book club my dd would like to participate in and I have to give an answer before I have a chance to get to the library.  We are not conservative.  

[NoseInABook]

I'd be okay with a 10 year old reading it as long as they're open to discussing things with you thoroughly. It is gruesome and disturbing but I think if you have a mature 10 year old who is willing to bounce their thoughts from the book off of you, it'd be okay. 

[Acorn]

I think that at least my oldest will read it around that age.  I am wondering if you should do a quick read though.  The hunting themes of animals and then children might be too much for some sensitive kids. 

[Indian summer]

Two of mine were 10 and under when I read it aloud to them. We discusses it a lot and for my dd who was 10 when we read it, it's her favourite book series ever. So glad we read it. But like others, it would depend on the kid. I'm not sure I would have read it to my oldest when he was 10. Actually, now that I think of it, I refused to read it to him when he asked at that age.

[Haiku]

My dd's friends all read it between the ages of 10 and 12. My dd is now 12 and still has no interest in reading it. I think it depends on the child. The girls my dd knows tend to be into the whole dystopian thing. My dd finds that disturbing and uninteresting. She's still into dragons and fairies. We read the Wikipedia synopsis of THG together and she chose not to read it. Honestly, even had she wanted to, I would have said no. I think the themes would have been too upsetting to her. I'd probably choose differently for my son, as he is not as disturbed by certain things as my dd is. It really depends on the child. Personally, I have zero interest in reading THG, but we LOVED The Underland Chronicles, by the same author but for a younger age group.

[madteaparty]

My dd's friends all read it between the ages of 10 and 12. My dd is now 12 and still has no interest in reading it. I think it depends on the child. The girls my dd knows tend to be into the whole dystopian thing. My dd finds that disturbing and uninteresting. She's still into dragons and fairies. We read the Wikipedia synopsis of THG together and she chose not to read it. Honestly, even had she wanted to, I would have said no. I think the themes would have been too upsetting to her. I'd probably choose differently for my son, as he is not as disturbed by certain things as my dd is. It really depends on the child. Personally, I have zero interest in reading THG, but we LOVED The Underland Chronicles, by the same author but for a younger age group.

 

Yes, we adored Gregor, but sadly it has caused DS to hound me to read The Hunger Games because he found out on his own that they are by the same author.

 

I think I will give in at the end of the summer, when he is 10 and a couple of months (right before beginning 5th grade). I don't think he is ready, but I have to give him some agency over his reading. I will read along.

[Mergath]

I'd be comfortable with a reasonably mature ten year old reading the books.  Are they just doing the first book, or all three?  I haven't read the third book in some time, but I remember that I was more disturbed by the third book than the first two.  If they're planning on doing all three books, you might want to pre-read.

[JessReplanted]

I guess I am the odd person out, but I told my son that he needs to wait until he's a teen to read them - I'm thinking somewhere around 13.

I love the books, but I think the themes are mature.

[Cinder]

My ds was also interested in Hunger Games because he loved Gregor so much. I let him read the first two books not too long after they came out but had him wait until he was 13yo to read the third; only about a year. That book felt darker than the first two and I didn't think he was quite ready at 12yo. By the time he got to read it the series had become too popular for him and with everyone talking about HG all the time he lost interest. He didn't even finish the third book because he stopped caring what happened to the characters. In his words, "Everybody died. The End." 

 

Yes, I told him not everybody died. He still didn't care.

[skimomma]

Thanks all!  They are only reading the first book in the club, but my I am sure dd will want to read all three.  I will have a chance to read them before the club gets to it, but I didn't even want to allow her to sign up if I was told it is for sure no good for a 10yo.  

[linders]

Individual kiddo, but my 10.5 year old has read the series now. It opened interesting discussions.

[nmoira]

It depends on the child. My oldest was fine at 10, but my youngest, almost 10, is far too sensitive.

[Momofeat]

I'm another oddball, I guess. I read them myself during our Christmas break. Personally, I think they are taken too lightly. The author purposefully made them easy to read because she wanted to appeal to younger readers, but the subject matter is rather disturbing, and I have decided that even my 14yo dd must wait to read them. It's not really that she's too young at this point, but she has to wait until I have time to analyze them with her, taking a more scholarly approach towards them. We'll either cover them this summer or in the fall.

 

I will not even consider them for my 11yo.

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[Word Nerd]

I let my DD read it at 10. 

[MercyA]

I'm a conservative Christian, and I think I'd be okay with a 12-year-old reading the books.  10 seems a little young.  

[wendy not in HI]

I'm one of the oddballs and asked my dd to wait until she was 12.5 (7th grade) to read it. She read it this year and we were able to talk about it while she read the books. She probably would have been fine to read it last year, but I'm glad she waited.

 

My 10 year old son would like to read them now, but I am asking him to wait a couple of years.  I just feel like the content is rather mature (kids killing other kids is what bothers me) and it really doesn't hurt to wait a little while.  

[catz]

My 9 year old is reading the 2nd book right now. I think this kind of thing varies by kid and family. My son read them around age 10 also.

[madteaparty]

Frankly, I think some of the Roald Dahl books were more disturbing than Hunger Games. 

 This is true with most fairytales, no? I feel like you either have to read them when too young, so you can gloss over the unpleasant stuff which you don't understand, or really wait until teens or so. A 10 year old is sort of in-between...

[Excelsior! Academy]

I guess I am the odd person out, but I told my son that he needs to wait until he's a teen to read them - I'm thinking somewhere around 13.

I love the books, but I think the themes are mature.

 

Agreed.  We hesitantly are letting our 12 year old read it.  Our 10 year old wouldn't be ready. 

 

 

 

*SPOILERS*  (As if you don't know the storyline, already LOL)

 

Not just the corrupt government and children as tributes, but also the "Hanging Tree" song that is thoroughly explained.  Suicide is a pretty strong idea for a 10 year old to contemplate. 

[Momofeat]

And what is even MORE disturbing to me is this:

 

http://www.covergirl.com/catching-fire

 

See, now this kind of stuff bothers me most of all. These books have been glamorized, and I think that's dangerous.

 

Not that they're bad books--I thoroughly enjoyed them. They just shouldn't be taken so lightly.

[nmoira]

The whole makeup collection thing based on the book is just so incredibly bizarre to me.

 

Like anyone in District 12 wore make-up, or even thought beyond feeding their families that week.   :001_rolleyes:

 

That Cover Girl link was disturbing.

[Elfknitter.#]

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/the-hunger-games

 

I agree, a mature 10 year would probably be ok with it.  That said, I think my dd would do to wait til about 12.

[73349]

When I saw the thread title, my first thought was 10.

 

For many readers, a book is not too intense even at an age when the movie would be. (I read quite a bit of Stephen King in middle school, but still wouldn't want to see the movies.) I wouldn't necessarily let a 10YO see the movie, even if s/he had read the book.