YA, why do you taunt me?

There's no escaping it. Every blog I've read the past few weeks seems to mention her and her books at least once. First there was J.K. Rowling with Harry Potter, then there was Stephenie Meyer and Twilight (sigh) and now there's another woman and series that will definitely be giving them a run for their money. The IT-author du jour is none other than Suzanne Collins, a former writer for Nickelodeon and creator of the young adult series (or YA as my fellow bloggers call it) The Hunger Games which are taking the world by storm.

Listen to this: "The Hunger Games introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where a powerful government called the Capitol has risen up after several devastating disasters. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the ruthless Capitol randomly selects one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts, who are then pitted against each other in a game of survival and forced to kill until only one remains." Interesting...

People of all ages are literally devouring these books. Saying that The Hunger Games and it's sequel Catching Fire are getting rave reviews would be an understatement. Adults, kids, critics, you name it are all going nuts about this soon to be trilogy that mixes action, romance and politics. The latter especially, gives it a weird and twisted edge that offers kids and adults some riveting common ground that most young adult novels are lacking. Except Twilight, which is perfect. As always, Belgium is a little late to catch on and is still blissfully ignorant but seeing as the movie rights have just been sold, invasion will be immanent.

For someone like myself, who is unable to resist the latest hype, there's dangerous territory ahead. Shall I stay true to my high brow literary foundations or once again take a brief excursion down the intriguing and entertaining path of YA?