YA book blog: Hungry by Alethea Eason

Book cover: Hungry by Alethea Eason

Upon learning of my YA book blog project for my Cuesta College course in connecting adolescents with literature and libraries, Middletown Library director Gehlen Palmer recommended Hungry by Alethea Eason (HarperCollins Publishers, 2007).

Deborah and her parents are aliens masquerading as human, living on Earth as part of a planned invasion. They exist by once-a-year killing and feeding upon humans’ “essence.”

At the story’s beginning Deborah partakes of anonymous fare provided by her parents. Deborah is horrified when her parents demand that she eat her best friend, a human named Willy, to prove her maturity.

In spite of its science fiction trappings, I see this story similar in many ways to others depicting inter-generational conflict between members of immigrant families. The parents cling to the traditions that define their culture while the child wants to be a part of the dominant society.

I think teens will enjoy and be able to relate to the conflicts faced by Deborah: having her own ideas about what is right, becoming aware and acting on them but not wanting to disappoint her parents.