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

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

(335 p., Call Number: YA FICTION SHUSTERMAN, NEIL sci-fi)

Set after the Second Civil War in which abortions are outlawed but parents have the option of signing over their 13- to 17-year-olds to be used as organ donors in a process called "Unwinding"; their body parts will go to other people who need them, and they will be both terminated and "technically" kept alive, only in a separated state, which is covered under the Bill of Rights. In this setting, 16-year-old Connor falls in with other prospective Unwinds and finds a temporary refuge (thanks to a clandestine organization with its own peculiar agenda) before being captured and sent to Happy Jack Harvest Camp. Their story of escape and struggle to survive in a society that lauds itself on the protection of life, but which has reduced human body parts to market commodities, unrolls against a bleak background of indifference, greed, and rebellion.

Like the Hunger Games, Unwind features teenagers forced to struggle for their lives against a system that sees them as little more than resources to be used and abused at will.
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