 The Hunger Games received many awards and honors . It was named one of Publishers Weekly 's " Best Books of the Year " in 2008 and a The New York Times " Notable Children 's Book of 2008 " . It was the 2009 winner of the Golden Duck Award in the Young Adult Fiction Category . The Hunger Games was also a " 2008 Cybil Winner " for fantasy and science @-@ fiction books along with The Graveyard Book , one of School Library Journal 's " Best Books 2008 " , and a " Booklist Editors ' Choice " in 2008 . In 2011 , the book won the California Young Reader Medal . In the 2012 edition of Scholastic 's Parent and Child magazine , The Hunger Games was listed as the 33rd @-@ best book for children , with the award for " Most Exciting Ending " . The novel is one of the top 5 best selling Kindle books of all time . However , the novel has also been controversial with parents ; it ranked in fifth place on the American Library Association 's list of frequently challenged books for 2010 , with " unsuited to age group " and " violence " being among the reasons cited . 
