Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Ages: 13+

The Hunger Games is an intense work of teen survival fiction. Reading this book, I could instantly recognize the many sources that seem to have inspired this book: Survivor, various Greek Myths (particularly Theseus in the Labyrinth), Roman Gladiator games, and Battle Royale for those reading this over 17.

Katniss is a 16 year old girl living in the not so distant future, when the United States has been dismantled due to natural and manmade disasters and turned into a totalitarian* state called Panem. At the center of Panem is the Capitol, which 12 surrounding Districts. In an exercise to show their power over the 12 Districts, the Capitol requires one boy and one girl from every District to fight in the Hunger Games every year. This is a fight to the death, and only one person can be the winner. Katniss is to fight this year...

This book is brutal. The teens do die, some in horrible ways. Suzanne Collins doesn't mull on gory details, thankfully, but each death has an emotional resonance that really reflects the WRONGNESS of the situation. After all, not only are children and teens forced to fight each other, they are doing so live on television, while the whole country watches. It's entertainment to those not participating. This is reality tv of the future.

I enjoyed reading this book. It has many themes that can be discussed for hours, making it ideal for book clubs and schools, as well as individual reading. Katniss is a fully developed main character, and I enjoyed her perspective on the events that occurred within the book. She is not without flaws, but she is a very strong and resourceful person. I found myself admiring her survival intelligence. The world of Panem is very well describe and many images still haunt me. However, I did not know ahead of time that The Hunger Games is part of a planned trilogy, so I was really annoyed by the "To be continued" at the end of the book. There are a few loose ends and honestly, I have no idea where the second book is going to take me. I enjoyed The Hunger Games so much, though, that I'll definitely tune in for Part Two.

I was excited to read this book based on advance reviews. I wasn't disappointed one smidging bit. I devoured this book in 4 hours, then immediately convinced my 14 year old sister to start reading it. She read 50 pages in the time it took for me to have a cup of tea.

I recommend this for teens that enjoy books like The Giver by Lois Lowry, or any of the works I've mentioned above. It will also be appreciated by those who question the current Reality TV trend, or by those who enjoy survival fiction, like the Island series by Gordon Korman.

*totalitarian state-n. A form of government that controls many aspects of its peoples' lives, including what they should say, think and do. Freedom of speech doesn't exist in these governments.

**dystopian-adj. highlighting human misery. Dystopian books talk about poverty, oppression, and violence usually caused by a totalitatian state.