hairdoll Rumor has it that Hailee Steinfeld, the incredible 14-year-old actress from True Grit is being considered for the lead in the upcoming Hunger Games movie, and I just want to say I thought of it first. The idea came to me during a perfect storm of extended Christmas vacation, filled with frequent matinees and a fresh box of the Hunger Games trilogy (thanks Santa!)

Like the now yawn-inducing Twilight series, and uber-commercialized Harry Potter series before it, the Hunger Games collection of young adult books (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay) seem destined to make a big splash on the big screen. And good for author Suzanne Collins. She wrote a great story and deserves to cash in with some box-office cha-ching.

The first book, The Hunger Games, sets up the premise of the series: a future-world, where North America—through civil wars and environmental catastrophe—now consists of a dozen Districts of impoverished workers supplying the needs of the spoiled and wealthy population of the Capital. Of course, in any world with a huge economic gulf between the classes, there has to be a mechanism to keep the boot firmly on the neck of the worker. In this future-world, Panem, the Capital, controls the resources to keep workers just cold, sick and hungry enough to behave, erects physical and communication barriers to prevent the Districts from joining forces, and promotes apathy and fear through control of the media and (ta-da!) The Hunger Games.

If you don’t watch the news, you may not be familiar with the political and entertainment value of teenage armed conflict, so I’ll fill you in. Children from each District are chosen by lottery (the Reaping), or they can volunteer to fight. The neediest families can submit their kids’ names multiple times for extra cash, so, as in our world, economics plays a big factor in who gets to be killed. The kids are armed and trained, then let loose to kill each other off in an environment controlled by the Capital. They star in the ultimate reality show, edited and broadcast to the Capital and the 12 districts, pitting Districts against each other, and demonstrating the Capital’s total control over the populace and their children.

Pretty intense for a children’s book, right? It’s not all misery and politics, though. That’s because we see it all through the eyes of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a kind of Everygirl, and she’s got her own issues. As in so many great children’s stories, parents are physically or emotionally absent—her dad dead in a mining accident and mom psychologically fragile. That leaves Katniss to care for her mother and younger sister, trying to put a little extra food on the table by escaping the boundaries of the District for some illegal hunting with her friend Gale. When Katniss’ younger sister, Prim, is chosen to fight in the Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to take her place, a heroic gesture, given the odds of survival in the vicious reality event.

Katniss is a tough customer, though, and, as it turns out, she’s totally up for the challenges of the Games. She’s teamed up with a fellow 12th-Districter, a boy, Peeta, who, while lacking Katniss’ deadly intent, makes up for it with a sense of morality and a heart of gold.  Katniss’ intelligence and skills as a hunter help keep the two alive despite the efforts of opponents who are far better trained and fed. Violent? Check. Gory? Check. Compelling?  Double-check. Katniss and Peeta start to represent more than morbid entertainment to the people of Panem and there are rumblings of discontent throughout the land, thus ensuring the publication of books two and three (Catching Fire, Mockingjay), and a more profitable movie franchise.

Movie casting people, please don’t screw this up. All I’m asking is that when you cast Katniss Everdeen, you keep in mind that this girl is representing for a whole lot of teenage girls out there. Like girls everywhere, she’s grappling with all the questions and insecurities of young adulthood: Which boy do I like? How can I sneak out of here without getting caught? Why is my mom so lame? Is the well-placed flaming arrow more deadly than the poison-tipped one?

And, like a lot of girls her age, she’s surprisingly unaware of how awesome she really is.