海角大神

The movie version of book one in聽鈥�The Hunger Games鈥� trilogy is still a week away, but if fan-site buzz and advance ticket sales are any sign, another blockbuster young-adult franchise is being born.

"Harry Potter" begat 鈥淭wilight,鈥� which聽begat 鈥淭he Hunger Games,鈥� but聽each begetting has its own quirks.

This series 鈥� starring a trio of teens, a format familiar to Harry Potter fans 鈥� features a 16-year-old heroine at the helm. It is darker, more dystopian, and less humorous than the tale of the young wizards faced with saving their world from the evil Lord Voldemort.

This time, the foe is a聽bloodless government that has the people of聽a聽fascist, post-apocalyptic future聽firmly in its grip.聽The 12聽districts of Panem, the entity that has replaced聽the US聽in this grittier and quite forsaken devastated land,聽are annually forced to send child warriors to battle in a televised, lethal, American Idol-style elimination game.

Green skin and cat eyes aside, this is a far less fantastical place 鈥� only one survivor聽can emerge.

The appeal of this tale is very similar to that of the Harry Potter books, but it takes the narrative to a slightly more mature place,聽says Elisabeth Gruner, associate professor of English at the University of Richmond.

鈥淭hese are more sophisticated, more violent, and they aim for聽an older audience,鈥� she says. But, she points out the key similarity in all these recent multi-book narratives, one that is common to much of children鈥檚聽literature.

鈥淭hey put children in the middle of the action, positioning them as the saviors of聽a larger, more confusing adult world,鈥� she says,聽pointing to everything from the Lewis Carroll Alice tales, where Alice is at the heart of the story, to Lord of the Rings. 鈥淭hey may have been Hobbits,鈥� she notes, 鈥渂ut for the purposes of storytelling, they were perceived as adolescents聽up against a far more powerful聽people.鈥�

Many of the fans have embraced聽Hunger Games聽with as much commitment as they did Harry Potter. Boston-area high school聽sophomore Abbie Kaplan says the violence in Hunger Games was an adjustment.

鈥淚聽had never read anything that detailed before,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut after I got used to it I really got into it.鈥� The 15-year-old Boston Latin student says she found many parallels between the descriptions in the books and the contemporary world around her, and in some ways聽found this discouraging.

鈥淚t is very corrupt,鈥� she says of the聽politics described in the book, and adds, 鈥渢he book obviously exaggerates things but clearly the author has some feelings about the world we live in today.鈥澛燬he ticks off the issues she sees聽surfacing聽throughout the narrative, including 鈥渕anipulation of power and innocent people dying for no reason.鈥�

But, Ms. Kaplan also identifies with the coming-of-age story that lies at the heart of聽Katniss聽Everdeen鈥檚 struggle to survive and fight back聽against overwhelming odds. The central character takes the place of her younger sister, who has been聽designated to fight in the Hunger Games contest.

鈥淪he chooses to sacrifice herself for her younger sister,鈥� she says, adding that she has a younger brother the same age. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what I would have done,鈥� she says, noting that because they聽are nearly the same age, she relates to the character鈥檚 thoughts and feelings, adding, 鈥渟he has such amazing courage and strength.鈥�

The story鈥檚 violence has been raising concern about the聽power of the imagery when it migrates from the page to the big screen, points out Us Weekly聽editor Albert Lee.

But, he notes, 鈥減eople have been聽wringing their hands about violence and children ever since聽Disney killed off Bambi鈥檚 mother.鈥�

Mr. Lee says director Gary Ross has gone to great lengths to keep the violence suggestive聽more than graphic. But, he adds, this grappling with terrifying forces is at the heart of a good children鈥檚 story.

鈥淕o back to the scariest fairy tales in the Brothers Grimm and you realize this is what good children鈥檚 stories are about,鈥� he says, 鈥渢he stakes are high, but it shows children they can deal with a scary world.鈥�