I highly recommend the Hunger Games novels (written by Suzanne Collins) which follows Katniss Everdeen throughout the 4-part dystopian thriller. I would recommend this series for ages 12 and up because of detailed injury references and some dark scenes.

The hunger games is an annual event set in the near future where one boy and one girl, aged 12-18, are picked as tributes to be sent to the capitol. When they arrive, they train for battle over four days to prepare for a fight to the death in a large natural arena. The whole event is filmed on TV. Katniss is picked as tribute and will face the ultimate test of life or death.

After nearly 14 years of writing, Collins finished the first 4 hunger games books and is currently writing the 5th. ‘Sunrise on the reaping’ is the next up in the line-up of ground breaking books.

All of the books have spectacular major motion-picture movie adaptations, available on Netflix and Prime Video. The movie following the fifth book, Sunrise on the reaping, that recently released will be out in cinemas in late 2026.