Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Copyright: 2008
ISBN: 9780439023481
Reading Level/Interest Age: Grade 7 and up
Genre: Science Fiction--Dystopia
Reader’s Annotation: Katniss is determined to survive the Hunger Games, the annual contest in which two teenage representatives from each of the twelve districts are forced to fight to the death on national television.
Plot Summary
It starts with a bang—within a few pages the narrator, Katniss Everdeen, is signed up to participate in the annual Hunger Games. This contest is designed to punish and intimidate the districts of Panem, a post-apocalyptic nation located on what remains of North America, and entertain the wealthy Capitol citizens. Every year each district must send two teenage “tributes” to compete in a fight to the death in highly controlled, brutal environment. The Games are mandatory viewing nationwide.
With the survival and hunting skills she learned from her father, Katniss is better qualified for the Games than many of the tributes from the poor districts. The other tribute from District 12, Peeta Mellark, is a baker’s son. In the interviews that kick off the Games, he confesses that he’s loved Katniss from afar his whole life, a strategy that Haymitch, their adviser, promotes.
Once inside the arena, Katniss heads out on her own and Peeta joins up with the Career tributes (teens from wealthy districts who have trained for the Games). Katniss forms an unlikely alliance with Rue, a young girl who reminds Katniss of her sister. When the Careers catch up to Katniss, Peeta turns on them so she can get away. Later Katniss finds Peeta injured. She takes him to a cave where she tries to nurse him back to health and hints that she reciprocates his feelings, but it doesn’t take long for the Game Makers to force her out of hiding.
Critical Evaluation
The Hunger Games is hands down the most gripping book I have ever read. For the few hours that it took me to read it I felt that I literally could not put it down. Though it has its flaws—the writing is basic and essentially devoid of subtlety—the imaginative story and the breathless intensity of the action render them insignificant.
Besides action, The Hunger Games also boasts powerful social commentary and great characters. The Capitol citizens are an extreme example of the human propensity to enjoy brutality. The irony of the fact that this book is going to make a great movie will not be lost on teens.
There are many colorful characters here, notably Effie Trinket, the Capitol representative assigned to District 12 whose signature line is, “And may the odds be ever in your favor;” Haymitch, the hard-living Victor haunted by his deeds in the arena who turns out to be a shrewd strategist and mentor; and Cinna, the stylist assigned to the District 12 tributes whose brilliant designs make a bold (and dangerous) political statement. Peeta and Katniss are less colorful, but are nevertheless solidly developed. Their personalities are almost beside the point—you can’t help but feel that you know them because of the intensity of the experiences you have in their company.
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas: Describe the Hunger Games, including details such as the unpredictable arenas, career tributes, stylists, and interviews. The premise sells itself.
Challenge Issues: Brutal teenage violence
In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll include positive reviews from Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal, which to varying degrees address the disturbing content of the book and the reasons for its inclusion. I'll also include the assessment from Common Sense Media (http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/hunger-games).
About the Author
Since 1991, Suzanne Collins has been busy writing for children’s television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa Explains It All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. For preschool viewers, she penned multiple stories for the Emmy-nominated Little Bear and Oswald. She also co-wrote the critically acclaimed Rankin/Bass Christmas special, Santa, Baby! Most recently she was the head writer for Scholastic Entertainment’s Clifford’s Puppy Days.
While working on a Kids WB show called Generation O! she met children’s author James Proimos, who talked her into giving children’s books a try.
Thinking one day about Alice in Wonderland, she was struck by how pastoral the setting must seem to kids who, like her own, live in urban surroundings. In New York City, you’re much more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole and, if you do, you’re not going to find a tea party. What you might find...? Well, that’s the story of Gregor the Overlander, the first book in her five-part fantasy/war series, The Underland Chronicles.
Suzanne currently lives in Connecticut with her family and a pair of feral kittens they adopted from their backyard.
http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/bio.htm
Why is this title included?
The Hunger Games is the most gripping book I have ever read, bar none. It has won numerous awards and appeared on many best-of lists, includingAmazon Editors' Picks: Top 10 Books, 2008; Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, Voice of Youth Advocates, 2008; Booklist Best Books for Young Adults, 2009; Horn Book Fanfare, 2008; Notable Children's Books, New York Times, 2008; Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books, 2008; School Library Journal Best Books, 2008; YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2009; YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2009; YALSA Teens' Top Ten, 2009; and YALSA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, 2009.