Hunger Games

Author:Suzanne Collins

ISBN:978-043902348

Publication Information: Scholastic Press

Plot Summary:16 year old Katniss lives in District 12, one of 12 districts in the country of Panem. Every year the Capital of Panem hosts a reality survival show called the Hunger Games, in which a boy and a girl (called tributes) are taken from each district and put into an arena, where they have to fight each other to the death; the last teen standing is declared the winner. This year, Katniss' little sister Prim, who is 12 years old, is chosen to represent District 12. Katniss immediately volunteers to take Prim's place, and is thrown into the world of the Capital and the Hunger Games with the other District 12 tribute, Peeta. With the help of Haymitch (a drunk who won the hunger games over two decades ago), Cinna (Katniss and Peeta's stylist for the Hunger Games) and Effie (Katniss and Peeta's escort), Peeta and Katniss must prepare themselves for a battle to the death, against the tributes from the other districts, and eventually, against each other.

Critical Evaluation:Suzanne Collins has taken the YA world by storm with her Hunger Games trilogy. The first novel has especially captured teen audiences, with a fast paced, interesting, futuristic plot and well written characters. The love triangle between Peeta, Katniss and Katniss' best friend Gale will be relatable by many teens, and I'm sure many readers hearts will break as their favorite characters meet their demise over the course of the Hunger Games. It is hard not to get sucked into Collins' fast paced novel, and to not devour the book in one sitting. An excellent addition to the post-apocalyptic genre, this will be a hit with both teens that enjoyed heavy hitters like A Brave New World and 1984, and reluctant readers that struggle to get through the writings of Huxley and Orwell. Highly recommended for teens with a wide variety of reading interests.

Reader's Annotation: Katniss and Peeta have been chosen as tributes to represent their district in the Hunger Games. To win, they must fight 23 other tributes, including each other, to the death.

Author Information: Suzanne Collins has had a successful career as a writer for childrens television shows, including several shows on the Nickelodean network. Her previous series The Underland Chronicles is an award winning series that has spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Collins lives with her family in Connecticut (information taken from the author's website http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/bio.htm).

Curricular Ties:American Geography

Genre:Action Adventure, Fantasy

Book talking ideas:

• Why is it so important for Katniss to protect Peeta?
• Why did Peeta join up with the career tributes?
• Why was Katniss so dedicated to Rue?
  

Challenge issues:Violence

• Familiarize yourself with the book and its contents.
• Check the library for specific policies on challenged books.
• Check the ALA website for advice on how to respond and react when a book has been challenged. (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/index.cfm)
  
• Find positive reviews from reputable websites.
• Ask the challenger for their specific objections and try to address them using information from the above research.

Interest Age: Grades 10 and up

Why I selected this piece: The Hunger Games and Catching Fire was two of the most talked about YA releases of the last few years. Because of this, I thought it was important to have this popular series on the blog.