Hunger Games

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: New York : Scholastic Press (2008)
ISBN: 9780439023481 0439023483 9780545310581 054531058X
Pages: 374
Bookmarks: 5

Awards: North Carolina Young Adult Book Award (2008), British Fantasy Award for Top Ten (2009), Georgia Peach Book Award (2009), A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (2008), Cybils Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2008),
Amelia Bloomer List (2009), An ALA Notable Children's Book for Older Readers (2009), Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (2008), West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA) for Older Readers (2010), Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award Nominee (2011), Red House Children's Book Award for Older Readers & Overall (2010), New York Times Notable Children's Book of (2008), Publishers Weekly's Best Books of The Year, South Carolina Book Award for Junior and Young Adult Book Awards (2011), Rhode Island Teen Book Award (2010), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (2010), ALA Teens' Top Ten (2009), Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Nominee (2010), Sakura Medal for Middle School Book (2010), Silver Inky Award (2009), Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Award (2009), Florida Teens Read (2009), Iowa High School Book Award Nominee (2011), ALA's Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults (2009)Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (2009)

If book awards mean anything to you at all, clearly The Hunger Games is a great choice. Even if book awards mean nothing to you, The Hunger Games is a great choice. It is very rare that I wholeheartedly recommend a book to just about anyone. This book is one of the few instances that I can honestly say is a must read.

Panem, located in the future North America, is divided into 12 districts. The Capital rules these districts. Each year, The Capital requires that 2 tributes, one male and one female, are sent each year to participate in The Hunger Games as punishment for an uprising. The Hunger Games are an annual televised death match in which 12-18 year-olds from each district battle each other to the death in an arena designed by The Gamemakers. When Katniss's younger sister, Prim is selected, Katniss takes her place, despite participating in the Games is most likely a death sentence. Along with Peeta, the other tribute from District 12, Katniss goes to The Capital to participate in the Games. After somewhat limited preparation, Katniss, Peeta, and the other tributes are thrust into The Arena and The Hunger Games begin. Katniss quicky decides that she is in it to win, whatever the cost. However, while playing, she is confronted by the decision- is survival worth the loss of friendship, love, and their humanity.

The Hunger Games was one of those books that it is almost impossible to put down. You get sucked into the world that Collins creates and quickly become attached to the characters. It is a little disturbing to think of a world in which often brutal murders are committed by teenagers for the entertainment of others and that some of these teens are specially groomed for this role. Suzanne Collins definitely makes you think with this highly entertaining (and addictive) book.

I actually think that this book would provide a lot of good discussion in a high school English class, especially if read in conjunction with Lord of the Flies as there are some similarities in the brutality that can be found within people. Comparisons could also be drawn by history teachers with the brutality found in the Roman Empire and in Medieval Europe (although both can be argued are somewhat less disturbing than the mandatory, televised Hunger Games).