Tags
No Better than a Jabberjay: 10 Recommendations Based on Hunger Games Eavesdropping
Like many lucky teachers, I was fortunate to experience the opening day of The Hunger Games film adaptation in a theater full of geeked out fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds, sporting Katniss braids and Mockingjay pins. On the bus ride back to school, my students could not stop buzzing about how the movie matched (or in some cases didn’t match) their expectations of the book. And now, since returning from their second and sometimes third movie showings, I know that I have to be even more mindful about preserving the book hype we had during our days of countdown frenzy.
As members of the Nerdy Book Club, we know that books like The Hunger Games fuel our classroom climate; however, that blaze of energy doesn’t come from just teacher book talks. It starts with the sparks of suggestion we make based on overhearing bits of student conversation. Since coming back from our field trip, I made note of some of the post-movie banter I was a part of or—via eavesdropping—I made myself a part of in order to recommend new books.
1. “Hey man, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t read the first one. Duh. Just jump in with the second one.”
Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
Kids want to read what everyone else is reading, even if it’s just to join the trend. Peer influence has a positive effect especially on the choices of my developing readers. In that regard, I see no problem with kids starting with the second book in the trilogy, especially if I know those students will have the strong support of our community of readers.
2. “It was cool how Katniss volunteered for her sister. I can’t stand my lil’ brother, but I’d kill somebody to protect him.”
Homeboyz, by Alan Lawerence Sitomer
Similar to The Hunger Games, thugs rule the streets in this California gangsta book; however, instead of volunteering to take his sister’s place in the beginning of the book, Teddy Anderson mourns the loss of his baby sister after a she gets “iced” in wrong-place, wrong time drive-by shooting. Although an intelligent and expert computer hacker, Teddy must pay for his elaborate yet failed plans of revenge by tutoring a wanna-be gangbanger through community service.
3. “I looove Peeta, yet I love Gale, too. Mrs. Beaton, I know you’re married and I know you said it’s not at all like Twilight, but who would you choose?”
I don’t normally recommend books that I haven’t read yet, but honestly this one hasn’t spent a day on my shelves. I think the fact that I’m number eight on my own waiting list, behind the most gushy Nicholas Sparks readers, says a lot about this triangular love story. Even as a somewhat cynical, anti-romance reader, I’m intrigued by the deception of this “perfect” Society.
3. “That was crazy how the Capitol was, like, brainwashed and went along with it. Those people were excited about kids killing each other. That’s some scary stuff! How could you even do that?”
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
In this disturbing and heart-breaking nonfiction text, Bartoletti’s gathers multiple real-life voices to explain how Hitler, like President Snow, won and exploited the trust of a nation’s youth. Written in a clear tone shifting between narrative and expository, this book has been passed among my students like a quiet petition seeking peace and a heightened collective consciousness.
4. “I just wanna keep rereading the series over and over. I love how mildly demented Panem is, and I just want to stick with this book forever. “
While I totally support Jen Vincent’s declaration of April as “It’s A-OK to Reread!” month, sometimes we know that students get caught in reading ruts because they don’t know where to go next. Divergent offers a safe move for reluctant readers; however, the new conflicts and loyalties will engage readers and invite them to join the faction of Roth followers counting down to the release of her next book.
5. “I wanna know all the hard vocab in this book, because I am Katniss. She’s gotta be so tough. I just wanna learn from her mistakes, so I don’t have to make them.”
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
Fighting to survive by breaking the rules, both Katniss Everdeen and Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich during WWII, work in their own ways to fight the forces against them. While my At-Risk students aren’t working to destabilize brutal totalitarian governments, they are up against forces that threaten to control their lives. Instead of being told from the protagonist’s point of view, Death himself narrates this tale, and—as you’d imagine—Death has a lot to say during this time period. And what’s more, every Nerdy Book Club member has to love a girl with such a strong appetite for books that she must steal them.
6. “Nuh uh, I didn’t jump at all when the mutts appeared… The thing is I didn’t like how their eyes weren’t like in the book; but still, the muttations were the best for sure.”
Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld
For the students that were drawn to Panem’s bizarre genetic engineering, like the jabberjays and tracker jackers, Scott Westerfeld’s nod to the emerging steampunk genre seems to be a smooth transition. Blending science fiction and alternate history, this pre-WWI adventure has helped cross the boundaries between my deep-rooted fantasy and history genre lovers.
7. “You didn’t cry when Rue died? What are you—made of stone?”
The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
Really? Who didn’t cry when she died? And, goodness, if you haven’t read John Green’s latest masterpiece, add it to your To-Read list. As one of my favorite authors, he has the ability to wash his readers in waves of intelligent humor, honesty, and grief, yet like The Hunger Games, somehow you never drown in just one emotion. Hazel’s tragic adventure isn’t about survival, we know that from the start, but more about satisfying a hunger she didn’t even know existed.
8. “Isn’t it awesome when you don’t exist in the real world but only in the world of your book? Especially when the characters think it’s an Ethiopia, and it’s not.”
“Dude, it’s Utopia, not Ethiopia.”
The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness
Spoken from the mouth of last year’s most defiant reader, The Chaos Walking series has the ability to transport readers to a violent and noisy otherworld. Unlike The Hunger Games strong and stoic female protagonist, Todd Hewitt is relatable, namely because he can’t help but being flawed and opinionated in his quest to find answers about the mysterious Prentisstown.
9. “I loved it, but I read the whole trilogy in just a few days. Does that mean it was too easy for me?”
Since my students began analyzing the complexity of their choices to create Reading Ladders, per the work of Teri Lesesne, they seem to be answering more of their own questions about the appropriateness of their reading challenges. Suzanne Collins has said that she repeatedly rereads Nineteen Eight-Four, so this post-apocalyptic political novel is probably a good step up for those readers who are looking for greater complexity.
10. “I hated this book! Well, not really. I mean, I loved it. It just made me think the whole time. I still can’t stop. Isn’t that awful?”
The Girl Who Was on Fire: Your Favorite Authors on Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy, by Leah Wilson (Editor)
In my hunt to deepen the complex connection between The Hunger Games and our modern society, this book, which does just that, literally caused me to squeal, running down the hall to share it with my fellow Humanities teacher. After reading Sarah Darer Littman’s “The Politics of Mockingjay” with my whole class, students actually gave up their own lunchtime to independently research the international laws of torture that Gale and Beetee presumably violated in terms of weapon design. Never have I had book that caused students to audibly exclaim “Ooh! Burn!” at intelligent literary argumentation until this one.
Erica Beaton (@B10LovesBooks) lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her equally geeky husband. She spends her days chatting about books with an awesome group of nerdy tenth graders, while teaching Humanities in the Tech 21 Project-Based Service Learning Academy at Cedar Springs High School.
What a treat to read this on a Saturday morning! Many of these are the books flying off my shelves. Sometimes they fly off my desk because I can’t finish reading one before a student takes it to read. Thanks for a great blog post as well as a few new books to add to the shelves.
After finishing the Hunger Games series, my son is rereading Harry Potter from go to woe for the sixth time so I think your comment about students getting stuck in the reread mode is very pertinent. I think you have hit the nail on the head – he is caught in a reading rut because he doesn’t know where to go next and I hadn’t recognised this!. I will recommend Divergent to him – thanks for the tip.
That is a fantastic list, seriously fantastic.
Happy Reading!
Crys
Best top 10 list so far. You really put a lot of thought and effort into this Erica.
Oh my gosh, thanks for this list! I think what I love about recommending books most is finding the why they liked the book, then matching up accordingly and you’ve done just that with this! And–have not read Green’s latest book yet. I have a cold, seriously congested, have to wait. Otherwise my head will explode as I read, cry, get even more stuffed up, lol.
Thanks again!
Well-done post. I like how great suggestions were interwoven into comments of your readers.
This is so perfect!!! I teach grade 8 and I have so many students who have devoured and loved the Hunger Games series and I am constantly looking for where to direct them next so they don’t loose that reading momentum. I just started following this blog (it was recommended to me at a reading conference) and I am so glad I did. Thanks!
WOW! This was a fantastic way to start my Saturday morning reading. It is an incredible list with so much thought given to writing it. Now, I have even more books for my TBR pile. And I am in complete agreement about The Fault in Our Stars!
I teach fourth grade, but have many of the same issues. Kids read and reread and reread. UG! This gives me some great ideas. And I too loved The Hunger Games.
Thanks for all the support on my first-ever blog post, fellow Nerdies! I’d love to hear what your readers have enjoyed post-Hunger Games, so I can pass along recommendations to my students.
Great post! I love how you took what the kids were saying and used that as fodder to get each section started. Great book ideas, too!
I love this!
Sweet! This is great stuff! I love it. So glad to hear that I am not the only one who thinks it is the coolest thing on earth to read a book load a bus full of students watch the movie. The energy and conversation on the bus before and after the movie is awesome! I guess that’s why we are NERDIES!!! Thanks for the awesome ideas for book referrals!
I LOVE your LIST!!! Thanks, Erica!
You made ME want to read all of these recommendations, I bet your students will enjoy your suggestions for after Hunger Games as well. Very thoughtful and inspiring list for sure. Thanks for sharing! I am loving the Nerdy Book Club!
I’m a little behind in my blog reading, but I LOVE this post. Some of these books wouldn’t have crossed my mind as a THG recommendation, but they completely make sense. I’m showing these to my students today 🙂
Awesome post!! Such a great idea and I love your recommendations.
In response to an Op-Ed, which declared “The Hunger Games” was not suitable for children due to the violence, author Sarah Darer Littman wrote “Don’t shield young readers from ‘Hunger Games.'” In her piece, she cites the excitement and energy of my students as posted here on for the Nerdy Book Club. Check it out:
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Sarah-Darer-Littman-Don-t-shield-young-readers-3478432.php
Pingback: No Better than a Jabberjay: 10 Recommendations Based on Hunger Games Eavesdropping | B10 Loves Books
Pingback: Book Review: No Better than a Jabberjay: 10 Recommendations Based on Hunger Games Eavesdropping | B10 Loves Books