This essay examines the growing need to provide students with the opportunity to study young adult literature with a scholarly eye through implementing the latest literature craze, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, in the English classroom. While the first book of The Hunger Games series may be controversial in the classroom due to its troubling content, this paper argues that the book which carries the series title provides a basis for academic discussion on par with classic dystopian novels commonly taught in the high school English classroom. In addition, unlike the common notion that young adult literature cannot contribute to cultural literacy, this paper argues that The Hunger Games provides a springboard to fostering cultural literacy
