October 4th – 10th is Banned Books Week. For each day of Banned Books Week, TBR Books is featuring a banned book that we have available in our store. Today’s banned book is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
The Hunger Games
Written by Suzanne Collins and published in 2008, The Hunger Games is a dystopian novel in which an authoritarian government forces each of its 12 districts to send two teenagers to participate in televised “games” in which contestants fight to the death. The main character is a 16 year old girl named Katniss who volunteers to take her sister’s place in the Games and struggles to survive. The Hunger Games was written for a Young Adult audience and originally a trilogy, but Collins has since written more books related to the series. The books have won a significant amount of awards and accolades. The books explore “themes of desensitization to violence, obsession with capitalism, and fascism.”
In 2008, the book was banned due to religious viewpoints, dark themes, violence, and being unsuitable for its age group.
In 2010, the book was challenged in Goffstown School District in New Hampshire because it could “numb children to violence.”
In 2010, 2011, and 2014, The Hunger Games was among the ALA’s top 10 most challenged books. In 2011, all three books in The Hunger Games trilogy were tied for third, and the complaints against them were “anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence.”
The 2012 film based on the book was a box-office hit, and it won multiple awards. It was rated PG-13.
In 2013, the book was banned in Boone County Schools in Kentucky. It was also banned in Penncrest School District in Pennsylvania and Elkhorn Area School District in Wisconsin.
In 2019, the book was banned in a school district in Texas.
In 2023, the book was banned in Brevard County Public Schools in Florida.
Additional attempts at censoring The Hunger Games have occurred in California, Colorado, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia.
At the end of Banned Books Week, you’ll be able to find all of this week’s book descriptions on the 2026 Banned Books Week page.
No AI was used in the making of this post, and all sources should be linked. Please let us know if anything is missing.
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