Hunger Games

Title Hunger Games

Author Suzanne Collins

ISBN 0439023483

Publication Information Scholastic Press: New York

 

Plot Summary Katniss Everdeen lives with her mother and younger sister in District 12. Each year the Capitol forces each district to send one girl and one boy to participate in the Hunger Games, a battle to the death to be televised to the entire country. When Katniss's sister, Prim is selected, Katniss volunteers to take her place. Whisked off to the Capitol with Peeta, the selected boy, she realizes that she must not only survive, but put on the show of her life to get all the help she can from outside sources. Katniss wins the crowd and Peeta's heart. Once the games begin, though, it is every person for him and herself. Katniss uses ever trick she ever knew from her time at home. Her tenacity earns her assistance from her sponsors in the Capitol. The love story between Peeta and Katniss allow for a change in the rules. If they can survive together, they do not have to kill each other in the end.

Critical Evaluation This is a very dark story. It is reminiscent of "The Lottery," Lord of the Flies, and The Truman Show combined. Katniss is a self-sufficient protagonist, hard to the ways of the world. She has repeatedly sacrificed herself to save her family after her father's death. The setting is equally dark and almost alien. Readers cannot even determine what country this might have once been; it's familiar enough to understand the structure, but different enough to be anywhere. The setting actually reminds me of the Gunslinger series by Stephen King. The plot of the story is not particularly surprising to adult readers. We can see the feelings Peeta has long before Katniss, and we are not surprised by the Capitol's game-playing at their expense. It is also a logical extension of the current craze with reality television in a barbaric, totalitarian world. The world be glued to their every move and the romance is a special angle that would be a big ratings winner. Each element alone does not make a original story, but the combination of them does make for a thoughtful look into the nature of entertainment and humanity.

Reader's Annotation Could you survive in a fight to the death without any help from friends and family? That is what Katniss Everdeen must do if she ever wants to see her sister and mother again.

Author Information This is Collins second series. The first, Gregor, the Overlander, is an Alice in Wonderland type story set underneath New York City. She also used to write childrens' television series for Nickolodean.

Curricular Ties Language Arts

Genre Dystopia, Action Adventure.

Book talking ideas Does Katniss really love Peeta? Are we taking our love of reality television too far? What makes a world a totalitarian one?

Challenge issues Violence especially children against other children. Parents usually want to avoid this subject for their kids.

1. Re-read the text to familiarize myself with the story
   
2. Ask parents for their specific objections (they are required to file that with our school district)
   
3. Review approved books list from California Department of Education for similar materials
   
4. Review approaches from ALA
   

Interest Age 14-18

Why I selected this piece I didn't. You did J However, I very much enjoyed the book. I hope to read the other two when the last is released. I hate waiting.