Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games published

First posted 6/25/2020.

The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins

First Publication: September 14, 2008 Category: young adult novel Sales: 23 million

Accolades (click on badges to see full lists):

About the Book: “Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV.” PW “This book will definitely resonate with the generation raised on reality shows like Survivor and American Gladiator.” SLJ In the tradition of books like Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, and Brave New World, Suzanne Collins creates a “postapocalyptic world” PW in which “the United States of America has collapsed…to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts.” SLJ Two youth from each district are selected by lottery each year to participate in the Hunger Games “as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.” PW Katniss Everdeen, 16, volunteers when her younger sister is plucked for the games. As she and Peeta, her male counterpart, are from the poorest district, they “will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.” SLJ “Although Katniss may be skilled with a bow and arrow and adept at analyzing her opponents’ next moves, she has much to learn about personal sentiments, especially her own.” BL “This is a superb tale of physical adventure, political suspense, and romance.” BL Collins’s characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing.” SLJ Resources and Related Links: BN Barnes & Noble BL Booklist review by Francisca Goldsmith PW Publishers Weekly review by Megan Whalen Turner SLJ School Library Journal review by Jane Henriksen Baird

Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl published 50 years ago today

First posted 6/24/2020.

The Diary of a Young Girl (aka “The Diary of Anne Frank”) Anne Frank

First Publication: June 25, 1947 Category: non-fiction/war-time diary Sales: 35 million

Accolades (click on badges to see full lists):

About the Book: “In 1942, with the Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding” WK with another family “in the ‘Secret Annexe’ of an old office building.” WK “Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death.” AZ “The family was apprehended in 1944, and Anne Frank died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945.” WK The diary was “discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life” AZ and given to “Anne’s father, Otto Frank, the family’s only known survivor, just after the war was over.” WK It “has become a world classic – a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.” AZ She “recorded vivid impressions of her experiences…By turns thoughtful, moving, and surprisingly humorous, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.” AZ The Philadelphia Inquirer called it “one of the most moving personal documents to come out of World War II.” AZ The Chicago Tribune said it was “a testament to an indestructible nobility of spirit in the face of pure evil.” AZ The New York Times Book Review praised it as “the single most compelling personal account of the Holocaust…remains astonishing and excruciating.” AZ Newsday said Frank “brilliantly…captures the self-conscious alienation and naïve self-absorption of adolescence.” AZ It has been published in over 60 languages WK and been adapted into a play (1955) and a movie (1959). WK Resources and Related Links: AZ Amazon WK Wikipedia

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass (aka “Northern Lights”) published

First posted 6/26/2020; last updated 1/31/2026.

The Golden Compass (aka “Northern Lights”) Philip Pullman

First Publication: July 9, 1995 Category: young adult fantasy novel Sales: ?

Accolades (click on badges to see full lists): Carnegie Medal (outstanding British children’s book) Guardian Prize for Children's Fiction

About the Book: Northern Lights, or The Golden Compass as it was called in North America, was a #1 New York Times bestseller published in 40 countries. BN It is a young-adult fantasy novel set in a universe in which humans’ souls exist outside of their bodies in the forms of talking animal spirits known as daemons. The story focuses on “a plucky, wild, courageous, amazing 12-year old girl named Lyra Belacqua [and] her beloved daemon Pantalaimon.” AZThey journey to the Arctic “where witch clans and armored bears rule” BN to find her friend, Roger, who has been kidnapped by the Gobblers. She also must face “her fearsome uncle Asriel [who] is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.” BN The book deals with “political intrigue in a world VERY much like our own in crucial ways” AZ as well as theology and the Church, all in “the hands of an author who is a great storyteller.” AZ The book is the first in the trilogy, His Dark Materials, followed by The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. In 2007, The Golden Compass was adapted into a feature film and in 2019, the BBC launched a television adaptation of His Dark Materials. Resources and Related Links: AZ Amazon WK Wikipedia