The Hunger Games - what's the fuss all about?

I have been cajoled, persuaded and nagged into reading the teen sensation that is The Hunger Games by the enthusiasm and obsession of Laura who, at 13, is probably Suzanne Collins' target audience. In my defence, I know an alarming number of adults who have read it (some have devoured the trilogy) and one book group which is reading it at the moment. It is one of those books which has become a cult read and it isn't all bad. For one thing, it has a strong heroine and female role model in the delightfully named Katniss Everdene. She has the measure of the boys in most things - she might not be as physically strong but she's clever, thoughtful and wily and regularly outwits them; she keeps her emotions in check and gives little away. She is the Ray Mears of her dystopian future world since what she doesn't know about survival skills, the natural world and hunting for food isn't worth knowing. She is not worried about fashion, looks or popularity; and she has a strong sense of loyalty and morality - unusual characteristics in this reality TV world in which 24 teenagers are engaged in a fight to the death at the 74th Annual Hunger Games.

The prose is undemanding, straightforward stuff. If you can cope with "The day is glorious, with a blue sky and soft breeze. The food's wonderful, with cheese seeping through the warm bread" and so on you will find yourself engaged in this imaginary world with extremes of poverty and plenty and the domination of the masses by the elite few at its core.

My advice? See the film which is almost word for word from the book. And the sequel is being released on 22 November 2013 (yes, that's 2013) which date is already marked in red in Laura's diary.