Every review I read about this book points to the premise of teenagers pitted against other teens to kill each other. To KILL each other? My 6th grade son was reading this and the prequel. Is this appropriate at a 6th grade level? The book reviews all state how violent and gory the book is. Some web sites say it might be appropriate for 12 and above, but most say that it is meant for young adults - not 6th graders. When my son told me about the plot - I asked to see the book. The first page I opened to had this excerpt: (SPOILER ALERT) "I glance around the training center. Peeta is at the center of a ribald circle of knife throwers. The morphlings from District 6 are in the camouflage station, painting each other’s faces with bright pink swirls. The male tribute from District 5 is vomiting wine on the sword-fighting floor. Finnick and the old woman from his district are using the archery station. Johanna Mason is naked again and oiling her skin down for a wrestling lesson. I decide to stay put." I am not a prude, but there is something wrong with exposure to this kind of information. VOMITING WINE? GETTING NAKED AND OILING HER SKIN DOWN? (SPOILER OVER) Not exactly the images I want my 11 year old, impressionable son to have in his mind. I wouldn't want him to see that in a movie and I do not want him reading such things. So here is my dilemma. I think that I am fighting against a society that feels that books and media about death, vampires, violence is OK for kids of all ages. I am up against a society whose rationalistic response is: "Oh they probably see worse things on cable TV". My son's response to me about this book is that one of his teachers read it and thought it was great. He said that his home room teacher recommended it. I tried to explain that just because an adult likes a book does not necessarily mean that it is appropriate for all kids. I told him that I like plenty of books, music and movies that he may not be old enough to be exposed to. That's why they put ratings on such things. So I monitor the TV, Cable, Music, computer games and Movies, but when these books are in the public library and are actually being encourage by the adults in his life; the adults he respects, how am I supposed to help him to see the hazards of reading such material? I am not only fighting against peer pressure, but pressure from all of society. Even looking at the reviews here is encouraging this book. So I was wondering why in the time he read the book my son was having a hard time sleeping and seemed a bit distant. We all wonder why there is such a bullying issue in schools and in society. I cannot help but to think that it has something to do with these images in his and other kids minds. It is a proven fact that exposure to such things has consequences. As an aside, I did not read the entire book, but I cannot see what all the rave reviews are referring to. From the little bit that I read, I think this is an extremely poor example of American Literature and English Grammar. All of the reviews talk about how riveting it is and how people cannot put it down. I found it quite boring with short choppy grammatically incorrect sentences. I am sure that one factor that compels a child to move to the next page is to find out if someone is going to get skewered or bludgeoned. If this is the best we can offer our kids, then we are a lost society indeed. And guess what - now they are looking at making a movie of this!