When Thrillers Go "YA": THE HUNGER GAMES

Genre talk: "Mysteries and crime fiction" includes subgenres like thrillers and espionage, as well as the classic detection, investigation, police procedurals, and of course historical mysteries and village or traditional mysteries, a.k.a. "cozies." The Nancy Drew series is the classic example of what happens when these percolate to the "young adult" (YA) level (yes, I know these are "children's" fiction now, but they used to work for teens in earlier years).

This year's prime example of a thriller series aimed at young adults is, of course, THE HUNGER GAMES -- publication of the trilogy began in 2008. I'm a shameless fan (have read the series three times, am likely to do it again soon), and I couldn't resist heading to the box-office hit film of the first book, this weekend. Please note the "Team Katniss" sweatshirt, purchases well in advance. Being a committed reader has its quirky side at such moments, I confess! Dressing for the occasion ... oh well. It was a good film, skillfully crafted from the much longer novel.