Hungry for more like the Hunger Games?

You may have noticed the recent craze for all things Hunger Games. For the uninitiated, in a dystopian future, teens are forced to fight to the death in a setting that is mix between the Roman coliseum and American Idol. The movie is setting all kinds of box office records. You can join the waiting list to read the book and its sequels HERE.

If you want more like The Hunger Games, read on. Most of these reads could fit into any of the three categories below, but one characteristic stands out more than the rest. You can access summaries and reviews of all of these books by clicking on the titles.

If you want more like the dark future world of Panem:

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
In the future, Nailer works on a scavenging crew, breaking down grounded ships for now scarce materials like copper and oil. After a hurricane Nailer finds a wrecked luxury yacht with one survivor—a teenage girl. If he takes all the goods on the ship, he will be rich enough to leave his dangerous scavenging job, but the girl will die. If he saves the girl, they’ll be on the run.

Why it’s like The Hunger Games: intensely poor communities versus an oppressive one percent


Also:
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Feed by M.T. Anderson
The Lab by Jack Heath
Legend by Marie Lu
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Unwind by Neal Shusterman

If you want more tales of wilderness survival:

Gone by Michael Grant
OK, so this isn’t exactly the wilderness, but suddenly, all members of Perdido Beach over the age of fourteen disappear. The remaining people are unable to leave or contact the outside world. That means the town is run by teens that have to figure out how to get food, care for the babies and small children, put out fires, and defend themselves against monsters. Warring cliques struggle for the town’s resources and power over the others. Then some of the characters start developing strange powers.

Why it’s like The Hunger Games: when left alone, some divert to self preservation and some look after others—becoming heroes

Also:
After the Snow by S.D. Crockett
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Surviving Antarctica: reality TV 2083 by Andrea White

If you want more strong, resourceful heroines:

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Tally lives outside the city, with all the other kids—the uglies. But on their sixteenth birthdays, everyone undergoes a complete surgical transformation, eliminating health problems and making their features perfect. Then Tally will join the city with all her equally perfect friends. When Tally’s best friend runs away from the operation, Tally is told she must travel into the wilderness to return her friend or never become a “pretty”.

Why it’s like The Hunger Games: teens are pawns for dangerous ordeals, while powerful adults pull the strings from the shadowy background


Also:
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Exodus by Julie Bertagna
Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean

- Miss Emily