The Hunger Games

 Suzanne Collins

 Scholastic Press

 Release Date: September 14, 2008

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The 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. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.

I have a friend who has been encouraging me to read this book for at least two years.  I usually trust her book recommendations, but she just couldn’t sell me on this particular title. It just didn’t call to me.

Fast forward to the announcement of our November selection for Main Street Book Club: The Hunger Games.  Sigh. 

Within the first few pages of the book, I was hooked.  Suzanne Collins manages to present Katniss in a way to make her utterly believable– that is, you want to like her, but you are not sure that you do.  Prematurely thrust into adulthood by the death of her father and her mother’s subsequent breakdown, Katniss is tasked with caring for her younger sister and mother.  In order to survive in grim District 12 she must join her friend, Gale, in secret hunts outside the district and deal in the black market.  Serious and tough, she does what needs to be done.

Little by little, we begin to understand that life in District 12 means more than food shortages and coal mining.  Each of the districts is forced to hold an annual lottery to choose two teens to compete in the Hunger Games.  A game that means death for all but one competitor.

It is not a surprise that Katniss becomes a competitor.  The surprise is HOW she becomes a competitor.  And how she manages to change all the rules….

My verdict:  Read it!  What are you waiting for? Go get it right now!

Read Word Nerd Teen’s review here.

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