By Cammi Woodall
Katniss worried about the same things every teen girl did – attraction to two boys, starvation, illegal hunting, black market sales, being killed by fellow participants in the arena.
Of course I’m talking about The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins’s 3-book set about Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl from Panem, a dystopian America of the future. Ruled by poverty and enforced labor, the twelve districts of Panem live to serve the Capital, a wealthy walled city where decadence and luxury rule. As retribution for uprisings during civil wars, each district must offer one boy and one girl every year to participate in the Hunger Games. With twelve districts, the 24 contestants are put into an arena covering miles of rugged terrain, with natural and man-made dangers at each step. The goal – be the last one alive. From the second the starting whistle blows, each contestant’s goal is to kill the others. The winner is promised a life of riches and luxury.
The books follow Katniss and her family and friends as they navigate the trials, tribulations, and hardships of life in Panem.
The movies were great but I highly recommend reading the books. You are able to read much more about Katniss’s inner thoughts. Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal captured that underdog complex perfectly, but Book Katniss had a much more selfish streak, even malicious. Though it is hard at times, you root for her and you want her to survive!
These books are categorized as Young Adult, but contain mature themes such as murder, brutality, classism, and disregard for human life. Parents will want to read them first to make sure they are suitable for their child. But don’t worry – adults will love them too!
Click to tweet: Favorite Friday Fiction: The Hunger Games. “The movies were great but I highly recommend reading the books.”
Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don’t live to see the morning?In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before – and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Collins delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.
