Hunger Games
14 Jul 2009 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: futuristic, survival, Survival in Love and War
Hunger Games by Sizanne Collins
Published by Scholastic Press, New York: 2008
374 pgs.
Recommended reading level: 11 and up
VOYA rating: 5P, 5Q MJS
There were many people at work who had loved this book. Everyone raved about it. It was even on our library’s summer recommended reading list for teens. Basically this book had a huge reputation to live up to which usually means I will be disappointed. Luckily, this one did not disappoint.
The very first two chapters drag ever so slightly but that is just to get you introduced to the family and establish the setting. The story takes place in a futuristic world that is now known as Panem rather than North America. After a major war and then a violent rebellion, the spirits and people of Panem are now completely broken and controlled by the privileged governing body called the Capitol. As a means of punishment and a way to keep their subjects scared into never rebelling again, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games each year.
The Hunger Games are like a really cruel version of the television show “Survivor” where two “tributes” from each district are chosen at random to compete. The tributes are taken through an elaborate ceremony and then dropped off into an unknown playing arena where they all must fight to the death against each other. The show is broadcast on television to all the districts each day. The districts have no choice in the matter and are forced into the games by the Capitol. Anyone from 12-18 are viable tributes and must have their names in the drawing which is eerily named “the reaping” at least once. In order to receive extra grain and oil for your family, you may purchase a tessera by entering your name in more than once which many people do because their families are poor and starving. Katniss enters her name in 14 times. It reminded me of “The Lottery” or “Running Man”. (I read a lot of Stephen King when I was a teen.)
Katniss, a teen who lives in a place called the Seam is a member of District 12, one of the poorer districts. Although many of the districts struggle a bit for survival, some are more privileged and in a slightly higher class based on what the Capitol allows. Some districts are the farming districts. Some are known for other industries that keep the district running. District 12 is known for its dangerous mining industry. Katniss is 16 and is taking care of her mother and sister after losing her father in a mining accident. She is able-bodied, clever and a gifted hunter who illegally hunts with her friend Gale to provide food for her family and trade for other supplies on the black market.
Katniss ends up participating as a tribute in the Hunger Games after volunteering herself to take the place of her beloved 12 year old sister. She winds up playing alongside the baker’s son Peeta who is a young man she has a memory of but whom she doesn’t know personally very well. The two go through the ceremonies, are given training and strategies and then are launched into the games. Eventually there are weapons, food and other items that are available to the tributes. The Capitol can control a lot of things and tries to entice the tributes to fight when not enough death and destruction are occurring. They manufacture weather, use their camera shooting to create characters and catch every death as it happens. It is a sick, twisted and fun adventurous story.
Of course, Katniss is our hero so she doesn’t disappoint the reader. She manages to fend for herself rather well, particularly considering that fact that she is such a good hunter. Even without a lot of training she does very well for herself. The playing field is never fair in the Hunger Games. Some tributes that come from wealthier districts are better trained. Some form alliances in the arena while others cunningly work alone. I kept waiting for this book to take the sappy, safe route. I didn’t expect the teens really to kill each other. I thought something would happen that would cause all of the tributes to somehow come together to stand against the Capitol, but that did NOT happen. There is killing, blood and deceit. You can’t quite tell who to trust in the story which kept me on the edge of my seat. Although you do feel a sense of remorse from Katniss as she kills another human she does it a couple of times to survive. A romance even forms between Katniss and her fellow tribute that leaves the door open for the sequel, “The Fire Catches”. There is even a suggestion that a love triangle may be forming for the sequel that might force readers to choose “Team Gale” or “Team Peeta.”
This was such a fun read with tons of action and adventure. It doesn’t dumb down the book for younger readers and instead of wussing out promises all the violence that the games are meant to show. It shows a very different world than that of “Feed” by M.T. Anderson because this future keeps its people bruised, and broken, controlled by their hunger where “Feed” keeps their people controlled through instant gratification and gluttony. The names used and invention of this alternate reality are very creative. Although I don’t think society has gone quite so far in their reality television programming today, it definitely has shared similarities with the Hunger Games. I think teens would love this and because it moves quickly it would be good for a noncommittal or reluctant reader. It has romance and a little soap opera story line for the girls but plenty of killing and blood for the boys. I even got my 29 year old husband, (who behaves like 12 year old most days) to read this and he loved it too.
