The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: New York : Scholastic Press, 2008.

Plot Description:

            In fictional Panem, in what was once the United States, Katniss Everdeen struggles to provide for her mother and sister, Prim.  Katniss works to shield Prim from the horrors of everyday life in their district, one of the 13 under the control of the Capital of Panem and President Snow.  In retribution for an uprising 74 years earlier, every year each district must send two children to participate in the nationally broadcasted Hunger games, a game where only one out of the 26 participants will survive.  When her sister is selected to be this years participant, Katniss volunteers herself to save Prim. The events that follow show the reader the horrors of what someone finds themselves capable of in the face of death, and teaches that even when we seem to have little free will in a situation, the smallest acts of rebellion can have the most widespread consequences.

Review:

            I found this book to be absolutely fabulous.  It is a gritty but realistic look at what one girl must do to survive a terrible situation.  Collins creates a character who is both strong and conflicted.  The ways in which Katniss copes with the situations she finds herself as well as the acts she finds herself committing is very realistic.  It creates a character who the reader is very sympathetic too.  Originally I thought that this book was a bit too old for a tween reader, but for older or more advanced tweens I can see why it is popular. 

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Reading level: 9^th grade

Similar Books: Hatchet, Tomorrow, when the war began

Reader’s Advisory:

Personal thoughts- one of the most thought provoking books I’ve read in a long time

Subjects/themes- Fiction, Rebellions, Adventure, Survival, War

Awards-

Series information- Book 1 of 3

Character names/descriptions-

            Katniss- survivalist who volunteers herself in the Hunger Games to save her sister

            Gale- Katniss’s friend from District 12 who helps her hunt for food

            Peeta- Katniss’s male counterpart in the Hunger Games, who also loves her

Annotation: One girl must struggle to survive in the face of immense odds, and in doing so will change the face of her entire country.