Parental Guidance Needed
I have an 11-year-old daughter who is relentlessly asking to read the Hunger Games novel. The office opinion is split between the 20 somethings who think it is fine and us older and oh-so-much-wiser folks who say no way. Would you let a mature but only 11-year-old read this book?
My almost-11 year old read it. Usually, we helicopter check out the reviews, but didn’t this time. We trustingly asked her last night if it was appropriate. She responded that it was ok … that “there was a little kissing in it”.
It is incredibly hard to find age-appropriate, but yet challenging interesting reading for the tweens.
Would let my 9 year old read the book if they wanted whether or not they were “mature” or not.
It’s a tough call. But maybe she would be better off reading something like Hansel & Gretel (child abandonment, kidnapping, murder), Seven Chinese Brothers (death, capital punishment), Peter Pan (murder, faerie orgies), Old Yeller (rabies, euthanasia), Bridge to Terabithia (love, domestic violence, death), Little House on the Prairie (Pa, Ma and that mime that raped Sylvia), or something by Judy Blume (just about everything you might be scared of).
Land the helicopter already.
Agree with Thufir (bigger fan of Miles Teg, but Thufir is legit). It’s a book. They are exposed to more “inappropriate” material than you can shake a stick at in a dumb Saturday morning kids show ie: See Katy Perry on Sesamie Street.
My 6th grader read it, devoured all three volumes. It’s been ordered by a 7th grade teacher as a required reading, too. My kid loved it -action packed. i dont think its any different than reading Harry Potter. Discuss or better yet, read it with your kids. However, the MIS/HPMS library will NOT allow 5th and 6th kids to check it out from the library.
ps I am a total helicopter!
I am the mother of 3 grown children. My middle daughter was born ready. She would have devoured those books at 11 and acted out different scenes. She went to 4 week camp at age 10 and never looked back. My other 2 would have had nightmares for weeks. They barely made it to a 1 week day camp. We’re all different. So my advice, since you’re asking, is for you to read it first. You know her best. If you think she’ll enjoy the books then by all means encourage her to read. I read them all. Loved them, but they were disturbing. Especially the third one. And I also think that an 11 year old still needs that helicopter to hover. On another note I love your paper (I’ve subscribed for years) and the blog. Two different perspectives. Great job.
It is a freaking kids book! I read much worse when i was 11 thirty years ago. I read all of the books that my two middle schoolers read.
Of course the theme of the series is that war is terrible and that there is little difference between the “good” guys and the “bad” guys. The series does devolve into less fun and more disturbing imagery over the course of the novels. HG is great, CF good and MJ just ok IMHO.
Absolutely glad that you are are aware of what your child is interested in reading. Just the pages of this blog alone will tell that there are too few parents aware of their children’s actions.
Obviously, the fact that it is a kids book does NOT make it automatically a good or bad choice for your individual child.
You know your child best and clearly have a genuine regard for her. Children who have that kind of support have a great advantage.
Perhaps flip through the book at a store to see what you think, given what you know about your kid. Many parents get two copies of books and read simultaneously what their kids are reading or do a parent child book club (yes, this is more popular with girls than boys).