If they’re asking for The Hunger Games, but you’re in a K-5 Library, try…
These are possible alternatives found in some K-5 libraries. In most cases, they are on the edge (grades 5-8), but they deal with survival, dystopian and/or world-building themes, and they tend to be plot-driven, fast-paced and thought-provoking.
Arntson, Steven The Wikkeltag
Bawden, Nina Off the Road
Christopher, John The White Mountains (trilogy)
The Guardians
Collins, Suzanne Gregor the Overlander
DuPrau, Jeanne City of Ember (trilogy)
Flanagan, John Ranger’s Apprentice series
The Outcast
Gray, Eva Tomorrow Girls series
Haddix, Margaret P. Among the Hidden (The Shadow Children Series)
Lowry, Lois The Giver (has sequel)
MacHale, D.J. Pendragon series
McMann, Lisa The Unwanteds
Mull, Brandon Beyonders (series)
Nix, Garth Seventh Tower series
O’Brien, Robert C. Z for Zachariah
Paulsen, Gary Hatchet (and sequels)
Reeve, Philip Fever Crumb
Sedgwick, Martin Floodland
Stahler, David Truesight
From Linda Perkins