The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins tells the story of a dystopian future North America called Panem, whose rulers maintain control through a televised survival competition, pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against each other. Sixteen-year-old Katniss volunteers to take her younger sister's place in the games, and despite this act of selflessness, she becomes entirely focused on survival at any cost. The question soon becomes not whether she'll merely survive the competition, but whether she'll lose her humanity in the process.

The Hunger Games have proven to be such a popular book at Marlon Park Public Library that this blog has been created to highlight other books similar to the hunger games that teens may also enjoy.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

(382 p., Call Number: Y FICTION DOCTOROW, CORY)

Seventeen-year-old techno-geek w1n5t0n (aka Marcus), chats secretly with friends on his IMParanoid messaging program, bypasses the school's gait-recognition system by placing pebbles in his shoes, and routinely evades school security with his laptop, cell, WifFnder, and ingenuity. While skipping school, Markus is caught near the site of a terrorist attack on San Francisco and held by the Department of Homeland Security for six days of intensive interrogation which includes physical torture and psychological stress, and who also “disappear” his best friend, Darryl, along with hundreds of other U.S. citizens. Moved in part by a desire for revenge and in part by a passionate belief in the Bill of Rights, Marcus vows to drive the DHS out of San Francisco. Using the Internet and other technologies, he plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse, disrupting the government’s attempts to create virtually universal electronic surveillance while recruiting other young people to his guerrilla movement.

Featuring teenagers fighting back against a brutally corrupt system, Little Brother offers fans of The Hunger Games familiar territory with some contemporary commentary freedom vs. security.
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