The Hunger Games

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, Inc, 2008. ISBN 0439023521

 

Plot Summary

                     Life on the Seam is as difficult as it gets.  Katniss Everdeen spends her days struggling to feed her young sister and mother by illegally hunting and trading for food.  This is not uncommon for residents of the twelve districts that once made up North America.  Panem, the opulent, wealthy capital at the center of the districts, hosts annual Hunger Games, gladiator-style battles to the death meant to keep the districts in line.  One female and one male adolescent from each district selected by way of lottery are forced to compete in these brutal games, fighting until only one person is left standing.  When Katniss’s baby sister’s name is drawn, Katniss steps up to replace her without a second thought, despite the fact that she is certain she will not survive.  She must immediately leave her family, her best friend Gale, her entire life behind and submit herself to elaborate preparations for the Games, which she is sure will lead to her death.  But survival and even violence come more naturally to Katniss than she expected and all at once it seems that she is a contender – but will she lose her integrity, her humanity in her fight for life?

Critical Analysis

                        The world created by Collins in The Hunger Games is completely absorbing and fully developed.  The reader, sees, feels, hears, and smells all of the details of the various settings for this story: the poverty and desperation of Seam, the decadence of the capital, and the many terrifying elements of the arena where Katniss fights for her life.  The arena even comes to life at the will of the rich citizens who run the games and sponsor the participants, rendering the setting a character in and of itself.  Katniss is complex and multifaceted, scarred tough by her difficult childhood, but underneath this, as scared and vulnerable as one might imagine.  She vacillates between extreme insecurity and bouts of sudden confidence brought on by her instinct for survival.  Her struggle to live through the extreme world of the Hunger Games is tense and absorbing, but even more so is her struggle to maintain her humanity as she plots to defeat her competitors.  This is a coming of age like no other – brutal, relentless, and life or death, literally.  All the while, her evolving relationship with simultaneous competitor and ally Peeta both on and off the Panem cameras, and her emerging feelings about Gale, the boy she left behind, only serve to complicate her journey towards losing her life, or losing herself.  This element of love woven into a plot centralized around vicious murder provides a contrast that is fully absorbing and unique.  This book is engrossing from the first page to the last and leaves the reader hungry for the next two in the series.

Reader's Annotation

                                Katniss Everdeen must compete in a death match put on for entertainment by the opulent capital that controls her world.  Despite her initial expectations that should would be killed off immediately, she finds that she might have a shot at winning, but at a personal cost too high to justify.

About the Author

                          Suzanne Collins, who lives in Connecticut with her family and two feral kittens adopted from outside, has a long history of writing for children.  She worked at Nickelodeon and was involved with such Emmy nominated and winning shows as Clarissa Explains It All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. For preschoolers, she wrote several episodes of Little Bear and Oswald.  It was children's author James Proimos who convinced her to try writing novels.

                           Her first such attempt was The Underland Chronicles, a series inspired by her contemplation of Alice in Wonderland's fascinating otherworld-ness, especially captivating to city children who had no real exposure to a pastoral environment.  After this followed The Hunger Games series, which has gained much attention worldwide.  The Hunger Games is currently being developed into a movie. 

Genre

        Science Fiction, Dystopia

Challenge Issues

                          Possible challenge issues in this book include violence and death.  In the event of a challenge, I would consult the challenge defense file prepared for this book.  The challenge defense file would include: positive reviews from credible sources for the purpose of proving merit to the challenger; negative reviews in order to inform me on what might be challenged; a written explanation of my own rationale for including the book in the collection as well as a summary of the plot; the American Library Association Bill of Rights; a review of my branch’s selection policy; and, as a last resort, an explanation of the reconsideration policy for my library and an official reconsideration form.

Curriculum Ties

                        English and History or Social Studies: for English, elements of place, character development, and prose; for History or Social Studies, discussion of political oppression and unrest.

Booktalk

               Think about reality television taken to the next level.  The Hunger Games are televised battles to the death between contestants chosen by lottery and forced to participate.  Humanity has a history of fascination with death - could this really happen?  Find out what it would be like to compete for your life just for entertainment's sake by reading about Katniss's journey in The Hunger Games.

Reading Level and Interest Age

                                                  Grades 9-12, although interest level might go two additional grades down due to the immense popularity of this series.

Why I Included This Book

                                            This book is an excellent synthesis between science fiction, adventure, coming of age, and romance.  So many elements of story-telling are beautifully executed in this book, it is no wonder it is universally popular.  It makes an excellent addition to any collection, both for its interest to young readers and its crossover appeal to adults.

References
Collins, S. (ND). Biography. Retrieved from http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/bio.htm