The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Collins, S. (2008). The hunger games. New York: Scholastic Press.

ISBN-13: 978-0-439-02348-1

Plot Summary

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen will do anything to protect the people she loves in District 12, a coal mining society and part of the Capitol’s far-reaching empire. Every year, the Capitol reaps two young adults from each district as tributes to compete in the Hunger Games as a way of keeping its citizens under its oppressive rule. The Hunger Games are televised for all to watch in entertainment and horror. This year, Katniss’s sister, Prim, has her name drawn. Katniss jumps to take her place, and she and Peeta, the boy who kindly gave her bread when she was a starving child long ago, must fight 22 other tributes in an evilly devised game field full of natural disasters and monstrous creatures. The winner of the Games will live a life of fame and luxury, but there can only be one winner. Katniss and Peeta create a love story that draws the attention and sympathy from people throughout the district, and when they outsmart the Hunger Games and the Capitol, their lives are about to change.

Critical Evaluation

Suzanne Collins creates a world where the Capitol of twelve districts manages every aspect of society. Through careful reading, we come to understand that the districts are areas of a post-apocalyptic America, and Katniss’s District 12 seems to be the coal mining areas of East Coast. Each District contributes in its own way to the Capitol creating a dependency that holds the districts together. Furthermore, when the children from each district meet each other, they see for the first time how each district is different and the comparisons between wealthy and desperate are obvious. The District itself serves as an obnoxious, glaring example of what happens to people in a world of vapid excessiveness. Vivid descriptions of the arena increase the game’s horrow. The plot is fast-paced and tension-filled as plot twists move from one problem to another as Katniss, Peeta, and the other tributes fight each other, the elements in the game, and their internal conflicts. Not all conflicts are resolved, however, leading the reader to the next book. Themes of individual freedom in a world of government control run throughout the novel. The characters’ holding up the berries for all to see show readers that one’s decisions are ultimately your own no matter what.

 

Reader’s Annotation

 

Katniss Everdeen would do anything for her family, even risking her life to compete in the Hunger Games. Katniss wants to win, but the Capitol and the other tributes have another idea.

 

Author Information

 

Born in 1962 in Connecticut, Suzanne Collins attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts and then earned her FMA from New York University in Dramatic Writing. In 1991, she began her career as a writer for children’s television shows including several shows for the children’s network, Nickelodeon. Her first books, five books of the Underland Chronicles, were published between 2003 and 2007. She attributes the inspiration of this series to when she realized that in New York City, people were more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole as in Alice in Wonderland. The Hunger Games, the first book in this series, was published September 2008 with great acclaim. Due to the popularity of this trilogy, Time named Collins as one of the 100 most influential people of 2010. Filming of The Hunger Games movie began in 2011, and Collins has adapted the novel for the film herself.

 

Collins currently lives in Connecticut with her husband, their two children, and an adopted family of feral cats that they found in their backyard. She says the idea for the Hunger Games came to her when she was flipping through the channels on her television between a reality show and news coverage of the Iraqi War.

 

More about Suzanne Collins can be found at her website:

http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/bio.htm

 

And:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games

Genre

Young Adult

Science Fiction

Survival

Romance

Dystopian Society

Post-Apocalyptic

Curriculum Ties

U.S. government, geography

Book Talking Ideas

What do dystopian society settings tell us about the world we live in? What sacrifices would you make for the people you love?

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Main character is 16; appropriate for grades 7 and up.

Challenge Issues

Violence

Challenge Defense

In defense of a challenge, I would cite these reviews as well as ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

Booklist starred 09/01/08

Publishers Weekly starred 11/03/08

Horn Book starred 09/01/08

School Library Journal starred 09/01/08

Library Media Connection starred 11/01/01

New York Times 11/09/08

Why did I include this title?

I had been meaning to read this for a few years. It is one of the most circulated books at my school. Many reluctant readers have changed their minds about reading when this book is put into their hands. Once I realized I had to read it for class, I sped through it this summer. I was hooked and immediately had to find the next two books. When I visited my friend in Philadelphia this summer, and I didn’t want to take multiple books, I bought a Kindle to download them because I couldn’t live without them. I feel it is an important discussion to have with students: how much control should a government have over its people’s individual rights?