The Hunger Games

Collins took the reality show, the dystopia and the YA action novel, mixed them together, and got something that worked better than anyone expected. Katniss is a protagonist who does not ask to be liked but to be understood, and that sets her apart. The violence is treated with more seriousness than the genre usually manages and the critique of media spectacle has real substance. The sequels drop the quality, but the first stands alone and has more layers than its target audience required.