Guilty Pleasures–Young Adult Books and Films
A highlight of recent weeks was going to see MockingJay Pt 1 with my granddaughter and prepping by rewatching Catching Fire the night before. Last summer we saw Divergent twice. Of course, it’s a great way to spend time (and money) with a grandchild but also gives us a chance to hash over classic dilemmas about romantic attraction and social engineering. Katniss’ relationships with Peeta and Gayle makes for great conversation–which one has taken her heart, which one her head? Can she analyze her feelings? Divergent takes us to matters of the heart too in a different way; maybe most interesting is the question about social engineering. Organizing the society by people’s characteristics seems like a benevolent plan–why doesn’t it work? Both books are kind of troubling in their use of violence as major plot action, but this isn’t new in children’s literature; it’s just more visible with technology. So . . .read and enjoy these books and films and you’ll definitely have something to talk about.