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 (cont'd)
From The Hunger
Games
The moment the anthem ends, we are taken into custody. I don't
mean we're handcuffed or anything, but a group of Peacekeepers marches us
through the front door of the Justice Building. Maybe tributes have tried to
escape in the past. I've never seen that happen though.
Once inside, I'm conducted to a room and left alone. It's the
richest place I've ever been in, with thick, deep carpets and a velvet couch
and chairs. I know velvet because my mother has a dress with a collar made of
the stuff. When I sit on the couch, I can't help running my fingers over the
fabric repeatedly. It helps to calm me as I try to prepare for the next hour.
The time allotted for the tributes to say good-bye to their loved ones. I
cannot afford to get upset, to leave this room with puffy eyes and a red nose.
Crying is not an option. There will be more cameras at the train station.
My sister and my mother come first. I reach out to Prim and she
climbs on my lap, her arms around my neck, head on my shoulder, just like she
did when she was a toddler. My mother sits beside me and wraps her arms around
us. For a few minutes, we say nothing. Then I start telling them all the things
they must remember to do, now that I will not be there to do them for them.
Suzanne Collins is the author of the New York Times bestselling Underland Chronicles
series, which has more than one million books in print and is available in
seven foreign editions. In the award-winning The Hunger Games trilogy, Collins
continues to explore the effects of war and violence on those coming of age.
Also a successful writer for children's television, Collins lives with her
family in Connecticut.
Editorial Reviews
From
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Reviewed
by Megan Whalen Turner
If there really are only seven original plots in the world, it's odd that boy meets girl is always mentioned, and society goes bad and attacks the good guy never is. Yet we have Fahrenheit 451,The Giver, The House of the Scorpion—and now, following a long tradition of Brave New Worlds, The Hunger Games. Collins hasn't tied her future to a specific date, or weighted it down with too much finger wagging. Rather less 1984 and rather more Death Race 2000, hers is a gripping story set in a postapocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.Katniss, from what was once Appalachia, offers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, but after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances. It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likable. She has the attributes to be a winner, where Peeta has the grace to be a good loser.It's no accident that these games are presented as pop culture. Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV. The State of Panem—which needs to keep its tributaries subdued and its citizens complacent—may have created the Games, but mindless television is the real danger, the means by which society pacifies its citizens and punishes those who fail to conform. Will its connection to reality TV, ubiquitous today, date the book? It might, but for now, it makes this the right book at the right time. What happens if we choose entertainment over humanity? In Collins's world, we'll be obsessed with grooming, we'll talk funny, and all our sentences will end with the same rise as questions. When Katniss is sent to stylists to be made more telegenic before she competes, she stands naked in front of them, strangely unembarrassed. They're so unlike people that I'm no more self-conscious than if a trio of oddly colored birds were pecking around my feet, she thinks. In order not to hate these creatures who are sending her to her death, she imagines them as pets. It isn't just the contestants who risk the loss of their humanity. It is all who watch. Katniss struggles to win not only the Games but the inherent contest for audience approval. Because this is the first book in a series, not everything is resolved, and what is left unanswered is the central question. Has she sacrificed too much? We know what she has given up to survive, but not whether the price was too high. Readers will wait eagerly to learn more.
Megan Whalen Turner is the author of the Newbery Honor book The Thief and its sequels, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia. The next book in the series will be published by Greenwillow in 2010.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
If there really are only seven original plots in the world, it's odd that boy meets girl is always mentioned, and society goes bad and attacks the good guy never is. Yet we have Fahrenheit 451,The Giver, The House of the Scorpion—and now, following a long tradition of Brave New Worlds, The Hunger Games. Collins hasn't tied her future to a specific date, or weighted it down with too much finger wagging. Rather less 1984 and rather more Death Race 2000, hers is a gripping story set in a postapocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.Katniss, from what was once Appalachia, offers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, but after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances. It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likable. She has the attributes to be a winner, where Peeta has the grace to be a good loser.It's no accident that these games are presented as pop culture. Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV. The State of Panem—which needs to keep its tributaries subdued and its citizens complacent—may have created the Games, but mindless television is the real danger, the means by which society pacifies its citizens and punishes those who fail to conform. Will its connection to reality TV, ubiquitous today, date the book? It might, but for now, it makes this the right book at the right time. What happens if we choose entertainment over humanity? In Collins's world, we'll be obsessed with grooming, we'll talk funny, and all our sentences will end with the same rise as questions. When Katniss is sent to stylists to be made more telegenic before she competes, she stands naked in front of them, strangely unembarrassed. They're so unlike people that I'm no more self-conscious than if a trio of oddly colored birds were pecking around my feet, she thinks. In order not to hate these creatures who are sending her to her death, she imagines them as pets. It isn't just the contestants who risk the loss of their humanity. It is all who watch. Katniss struggles to win not only the Games but the inherent contest for audience approval. Because this is the first book in a series, not everything is resolved, and what is left unanswered is the central question. Has she sacrificed too much? We know what she has given up to survive, but not whether the price was too high. Readers will wait eagerly to learn more.
Megan Whalen Turner is the author of the Newbery Honor book The Thief and its sequels, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia. The next book in the series will be published by Greenwillow in 2010.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School
Library Journal
Grade 7 Up -In a not-too-distant future, the United States of
America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be
replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each
year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to
participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation
of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout
Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors,
literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's
young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative,
Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the
son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of
bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have
trained for this their whole lives. Collins's characters are completely
realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of
overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing. This book will
definitely resonate with the generation raised on reality shows like 'Survivor'
and 'American Gladiator.' Book one of a planned trilogy.Jane Henriksen
Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
This is a grand-opening salvo in a new series by the author of the
Underland Chronicles. Sixteen-year-old Katniss poaches food for her widowed
mother and little sister from the forest outside the legal perimeter of
District 12, the poorest of the dozen districts constituting Panem, the North
American dystopic state that has replaced the U.S. in the not-too-distant
future. Her hunting and tracking skills serve her well when she is then cast
into the nation’s annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death where contestants
must battle harsh terrain, artificially concocted weather conditions, and two
teenaged contestants from each of Panem’s districts. District 12’s second
“tribute” is Peeta, the baker’s son, who has been in love with Katniss since he
was five. Each new plot twist ratchets up the tension, moving the story forward
and keeping the reader on edge. Although Katniss may be skilled with a bow
and arrow and adept at analyzing her opponents’ next moves, she has much to
learn about personal sentiments, especially her own. Populated by
three-dimensional characters, this is a superb tale of physical adventure,
political suspense, and romance. Grades 9-12. --Francisca Goldsmith
Praise for The
Hunger Games
#1 New York Times Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A Horn Book Fanfare
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2008
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2008
A Booklist Editors' Choice
A New York Times Notable Book of 2008
A Kirkus Best Book of 2008
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A USA Today Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A Horn Book Fanfare
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2008
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2008
A Booklist Editors' Choice
A New York Times Notable Book of 2008
A Kirkus Best Book of 2008
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A USA Today Bestseller
"[The Hunger Games] is a violent, jarring, speed-rap
of a novel that generates nearly constant suspense... I couldn't stop
reading." — Stephen King, Entertainment
Tonight
"I was so obsessed with this book that I had to take it with me out to dinner and hide it under the edge of the table so I wouldn't have to stop reading... The Hunger Games is amazing." — Stephanie Meyer
"[The Hunger Games] is a great book, and very thought-provoking. Read this along with your teen and discuss it." — Charlaine Harris
"Brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced." — John Green, New York Times Book Review
"A plot-driven blend of suspense, science fiction, and romance." — USA Today
"Enthralling, imaginative and creepy." — Los Angeles Times
"{A} superb tale" — Booklist, starred review
"Readers will wait eagerly to learn more." — Publishers Weekly, starred review
Product Details
·
File Size: 867 KB
·
Print Length: 387 pages
·
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0545425115
·
Publisher: Scholastic Press; 1
edition (September 1, 2009)
·
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
·
Language: English
·
ASIN: B002MQYOFW
