‘Hunger Games’ among books most challenged by parents

By HILLEL ITALIE (http://today.msnbc.msn.com)

This year, the trilogy made the list for  a variety of complaints, including being 'anti-family' and violent 

 

The more popular "The Hunger Games" trilogy becomes, the more reasons some parents and educators have found to question whether it belongs on library shelves.

For the second year in a row, Suzanne Collins' work was among the most "challenged" books, as reported Sunday by the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. The association defines a challenge as "a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that a book or other material be restricted or removed because of its content or appropriateness."

In last year's list, when just the title book of the trilogy was in the top 10, complaints included "sexually explicit" and "unsuited to age group and violence." Collins herself acknowledged her dystopian stories were not for everyone, telling The Associated Press at the time that she had heard "people were concerned about the level of violence in the books. That's not unreasonable. They are violent. It's a war trilogy."

For the new study, which also included "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay," the objections were more varied, and harsher, including "Anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence."
Barbara Jones, director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, thinks anticipation for the "Hunger Games" film led to closer criticism of the books.


"I'd like to think people are getting more tolerant of the theme of homosexuality," Jones said. "But maybe other books are just getting more attention. Young adult novels are the big thing right now and we're getting a lot more feedback about them."