THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy by Suzanne Collins

My students have been begging me to read this young adult trilogy, telling me that the books fit in with our study of the literature of social justice. Indeed they were just the trick during a run of low spirits, where I couldn't concentrate on anything that required summoning up keen intellect or stamina. The plot-lines worked their spell; and I was able to disappear into the books and forget everything else while I was reading. The first book, especially, is a page-turner. Books two and three ride on the momentum of book one. You won't stop to parse any beautiful sentences or ask yourself how the author did that... but she writes cleanly, the pacing is taut, and you won't stop reading either, as the heroine battles a brutal, authoritarian government.