I finally got my hands on a copy of The Hunger Games this weekend. There's been an awful lot of hype and even some Newbery talk about this book which usually makes me a little bit skeptical - but I was not disappointed! Set at some point in the future, North America has been reorganized as the nation of Panem, consisting of the all-controlling Capitol and its twelve surrounding districts. As a way of keeping the districts in line and reminding them that they control everything, each year the Capitol organizes the Hunger Games, where a boy and a girl from every district is randomly selected to participate in a televised game. Each of the 24 children selected - tributes - must battle harsh conditions, wild animals, starvation, and ultimately fight to the death. The winner is the last tribute left alive.In District 12 - one of the poorest and least regarded districts - being selected as a tribute is generally regarded as a death sentence. But when her sweet younger sister is selected as the female tribute, sixteen-year-old Katniss quickly volunteers to take her place in order to save her life. And so begins Katniss' struggle to not only battle the challenges of the games themselves, but also to quietly oppose the Capitol's cruelty and maintain her own humanity in spite of the barbaric nature of the games.
This was an excellent book that will be hard for most readers to put down. Panem's dystopia is vividly drawn and unnaturally beautiful (read, "garish") Capitol contrasts sharply and effectively with the run-down yet homey District 12. The second book in this intended trilogy will be available next fall, and readers will eagerly await to see what sort of challenges author Suzanne Collins has planned for the Hunger Games' aftermath.
Overall Grade: A+
2 comments:
It definitely sounds like I want to read this book.
Is it really depressing?
I wouldn't say it's depressing at all. Very intense and sad at parts, but it's more of an action-adventure story where the hero rises out of the ashes.
One of the other cool things about this book is that it's really violent, but it's not at all graphic. The authr somehow manages to get you to picture everything that happens without necessarily providing gross details, which is great for those who don't like feeling squeemish.
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