Dear Great Book Guru. Many of my friends have read the first book in the "Hunger Games" series, and I wonder if I would enjoy it. I know it is written for a teenage audience, it is violent, and is fantasy- none of which makes it very appealing to me, but I am intrigued because of all the publicity it has gotten. Have you read the book and if so, would you recommend it? Hungry for a New Genre

Dear Hungry, Yes, I have read THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins and while I had many of the same reservations you have, I did enjoy it and would recommend reading it and also seeing the movie. Last weekend, we were at breakfast with the Merediths (formerly of Sea Cliff and now of Rhode Island) and the Kennedy-Hansmanns when the topic came up of why adults would be attracted to novels whose target audience is middle school and teen readers .What do so many sophisticated, educated adults find interesting in these books ? Well, I think the best of YAs (as these books are called) are clever, fast moving, and offer glimpses into worlds we want to learn more about .To be able to be transported into another universe and back all in a day's reading is very compelling for the time-strapped reader of whatever age. HUNGER GAMES offers even more with its carefully developed plot and memorable main character: a young woman who is angry, fierce, competent, and at times touchingly compassionate. Her ethical dilemmas while set in a futuristic , post-apocalyptical world are familiar to all of us and, yes, there are chilling hints of the barbarism that lies below the veneer of our civilized present day world. A good read!