More...Hunger Games! (and Taylor Swift)

Ok, so last time I wrote a blog I was a little, let's say, misinformed about Hunger Games's upcoming release date. The long wait was not over, it turned out, but I am happy to say that in just a few more days it finally is!

In related news, I stumbled across this delectable Taylor Swift music video of a song featured in the movie. If you don't, A., love the Country Princess that is Taylor Swift, or, B.,  love this video, you have worse taste than Snooki's unborn baby. Just kidding. But seriously. T. Swift is great. If you're a serious fan, also don't miss out on THIS informative Salon.com article about the making of "the Blockbuster."

The other cool thing is that we've got another week to feature some more of our favorite dystopian themed YA books to fill the vacuum left by Hunger Games.

For starters...
Starters by Lissa Price (Delacourte, $14.39, 352 pgs) -- Not for the faint of heart (or young of years), Starters is one of my recent favorites and sure to be one of the hot new books of the summer season. Imagine a world where after a genocide spore has wiped out everyone but the very young and the very old, children 'rent' out their bodies to seniors who need to feel young again. For 16 year-old Callie, renting out her body through the Body Bank is the only way she knows how to survive -- the only stability she's had since she lost her parents. That is, until the day when Callie discovers that her renter is going to commit a murder with her body. When Callie's neurochip malfunctions and she finds herself living the dream life of her rich renter, things get even stranger. Life seems perfect...until she discovers what the Body Bank is really up to... A great debut that you won't want to miss!

Divergent by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegan Books, $7.99, 512 pgs) -- In a dystopian Chicago, society is divided in to five factions -- each of which is dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue. Candor is for honesty. Abnegation, for selflessness. Erudite, for intelligence....you get the picture. On Beatrice's 16th birthday, like all other budding 16 year olds, she's forced to choose which faction she'll dedicate the rest of her life to. Choosing between her family and herself proves difficult and she surprises everyone -- including herself with her decision. In the extreme initiation that follows, Beatrice endures intense physical and psychological tests that check her will and threatens to transform her. Romance, dark secrets, and glimpses of the unrest that rules her seemingly perfect society ensues....Great fun.