Adolescence

Children murder one another in a multitude of gruesome and memorable ways in "The Hunger Games," deploying spears, arrows, rocks, venomous wasps, mutant wolves and their bare hands in a televised gladiatorial death match. The juvenile slaughterfest depicted in the film and its source material, Suzanne Collins' trilogy of bestselling young adult novels, may give audiences (particularly parents) pause — is this what contemporary entertainment has come to? But violence committed by and against children has a long, grisly tradition in literature — as an allegory for adult cruelty, a representation of the emotional volatility of adolescence and a tension-raiser for audiences.

"The Fry Chronicles -- An Autobiography" Stephen Fry The Overlook Press: 438 pp, $29.95 Actor, writer and British humor icon Stephen Fry would like you to know that he picks his nose and pees in the shower. He also can't stand the sight of his naked body. And in case you were wondering, he's a rotten dancer, a spaz on the athletic field and none too confident in the sack either. It takes a mighty big ego to flaunt these sorts of imperfections, and that's the paradox that makes "The Fry Chronicles" such a chatty delight.

Facebook, the social networking giant that connects 845 million people to one another, may be a jolly gabfest for the self-assured. But for those who suffer from low self-esteem, it appears to be a rather nasty trap, luring such people into self-disclosures that prompt many a Facebook friend to agree with their low opinion of themselves. A new study, set to be published in the journal Psychological Science, explored the dynamics of friendship on Facebook to see what benefits or pitfalls the site might offer to a population that could use the propping up of a few new friends: those who think poorly of themselves, fear judgment by others and are prone to social isolation and depression.

Roughly one teen in 100 has personally engaged in so-called sexting, the sending of sexually explicit pictures of oneself via digital media, in the last year. But the senders intended the images to be an intimate message for one special recipient may be surprised: 7.1% of Internet-using teenagers told the authors of a study released Monday they had received at least one such image on their phone or computer in the last year. The study , published Monday in the journal Pediatrics , is the first to make an educated guess at how common the practice of sexting is among teens.

She has had four surgeries to remove her thyroid, parathyroid and vocal cord nerve, along with muscle and tissue. Once a year, she goes to a hospital and swallows a radioactive iodine capsule to attack the remaining cancer cells — and then remains in isolation for four days. During what she calls her quarantine, she can't touch — or even be in the same room as — anyone else. The treatment causes soreness, swelling, nausea and headaches. Each year, as the ordeal approaches, she scans the Internet for support groups.

The rate of births among teenagers, preterm births, injury deaths for teens and binge drinking are all declining, and that's good news for America's children, according to a new government report issued Thursday. But more young teens are using illicit drugs, more are likely to be living in poverty and fewer have parents who are working full-time, according to the report , "America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2011. " The report was compiled by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, a working group of 22 federal agencies that collect, analyze and disseminate data on issues relating to children and families.

Teens who diet may not be going through a phase -- they could be continuing that behavior into adulthood, a study finds. Researchers followed a group of teens -- 1,030 boys and 1,257 girls -- for 10 years. At the beginning of the study, the participants ranged from early to middle adolescence (about 13 to 16), and at the end they were in their early to mid-adulthood (ages 23 to 26). About half of the girls and one-fourth of the boys said they had dieted in the last year. Those numbers stayed pretty consistent for all girls, but for older boys dieting increased as they got older, going from 21.9% in mid-adolescence to 27.9% in middle young adulthood.

Writer-director Richard Ayoade has the knack. A fresh and inventive cinematic voice, he's taken a subject that's been beaten half to death and brought it miraculously to life in his smart and funny debut feature, "Submarine. " Based on a novel by Joe Dunthorne, "Submarine" is not exactly the first film willing to explore the coming of age of a teenage boy. But by grafting delightful cinematic wit and style and a fondness for the energy of the French New Wave onto the tale of a 15-year-old taking on life in a town in Wales, Ayoade makes us feel like it's never been told before.

A 45-year-old man fatally shot his girlfriend and their 5-year-old twins in front of three other children in East Los Angeles before turning the gun on himself, authorities said Sunday. Salvador Acevedo Deleon was driving a Toyota sport utility vehicle with his girlfriend, Iris Oseguera, 33, their twins and three adolescents about 9 p.m. Saturday when the couple got into an argument, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and a coroner's official. Acevedo Deleon pulled out a handgun and shot Oseguera and the twins, striking each in the upper torso.

Some 2 million Americans adolescents experienced a bout of major depression last year, but only about a third of them got any help in dealing with the sadness, irritability,  anxiety, guilt and loss of interest and energy that are the hallmarks of such episodes, a report says. The new findings , tallied by the federal government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration , were issued Thursday to kick off a month of national activity aimed at raising awareness of childrens' mental health.