I know, I know. I’m a little late to the Hunger Games party. It was only a few short weeks ago that I stumbled upon the first book in the series by Suzanne Collins and picked it up to read the back. In the back of my mind I remembered someone recommending it to me some time ago, but I had never read it. I was impressed with the plot. so I made a mental note to make it the next book I read.

After a few days I realized that the book was familiar to me was because it was about to be released as a major motion picture. So this week I finally got around to reading it because I had no intention of seeing it in the theater without having read the book first. Keep in mind; I still had not realized that I was about to discover one of my new favorite literary heroines.

If you haven’t read the book yet, don’t worry I am not going to spoil any of it (not much at least) here. Since I’ve yet to see the movie I won’t be talking about the high or low points of it or comparing it to the book (though I’ll be happy to do that once I have seen the movie). What I am going to do is gush on all the ways I love Katniss Everdeen, the main character of the Hunger Games.

1. She Is Awesome – OK, so not the best choice of words, but true nonetheless. Here is a teenage girl who hunts and scavenges to keep her family fed. She is sharp with a bow and arrow, a savvy trader in her community and can set a trap that would make the most talented hunter jealous.
2. Body Image is Not an Issue – Though there a few scenes where what Katniss wears are pertinent to the plot they have nothing to do with body image. In fact those few scenes really have little do with gender at all.
3. Zero Sexualization – That’s right, there was not a hint of sexualization in any area of this book. Not between the main characters, the side characters, the clothing, or anything.
4. No Time for Boys – Now I can’t speak for the rest of the books (because I haven’t read them yet) but I loved that while there is sort of a love interest (or two) in the book the relationship is so tightly mixed in with friendship, camaraderie and basic survival that it becomes more of a sidebar to the rest of the story.
5. Gender Roles Cease to Exist – The best part of all of is that while Katniss maybe be awesome, as I mentioned before, it’s never mentioned that she is who she is despite being a girl. Unlike girls like Nancy Drew, “girl” detective or Hermione Grainger who couldn’t just be brilliant, but instead had to be the most brilliant WITCH of her generation. Katniss is who she is, with no regard to gender. That rule also applied to all the characters in the book. Their strengths and their weaknesses (boys included) are based on personality NOT gender. Which was so completely refreshing, that I can’t even think of another book that managed to tell it’s story with no regard to gender roles AT ALL.

One thing that really intrigues me is that The Hunger Games is considered young adult.  It’s listed as a 5^th grade reading level and is even the subject of our school’s 4^th & 5^th grade book club this session.

While the subject matter is certainly dark, I am considering reading it again. I even look forward to being able to read it out loud to my own kids. I so desperately want them both to hear a story that is free of gender stereotypes that I might being willing to deal with some of the unpleasantness of the subject matter and read it to them.

What did you take away from the Hunger Games and have you shared the book with the young Heroes and SheHeroes in your life yet? Would you?