Very interesting article.
As far as the Hunger Games, I find that dystopian societies make for interesting reading and discussions. The depth of understanding of the concepts is not limited by the reading level. I find no redeeming value in DOAWK though. DS has been reading DOAWK books since K and this year I am banning them.
I agree with what has been said about the Hunger games. Around my 9th grade, I read a lot of Jane Austen and Emily Bronte, with a fair amount of Shakespeare thrown in. I also remember reading "Gone with the wind" when I was around 9th or 10th grade. I enjoyed it thoroughly, even though the writing styles are so different. I think ideas do matter. I also read "Lolita" around that age; I have to admit that held my interest much more than War and Peace did, at that age.
Some of the picture books have better ideas and vocabulary than some chapter books that are written poorly, for the kids. I try to pre-read as much as I can (children's fiction). I also think, once in a while, reading junk is okay, just so the child can differentiate between good writing and bad writing.
