The Hunger Games
Written by: Suzanne Collins
Published by: Scholastic Press
ISBN13: 978-0-439-02348-1
ISBN10: 0-439-02348-3
Reviewed By: Lauren Lapinski
With constant predictions of the human race and the world coming to an end in the year 2012, many of us fear what the near and distant future hold. Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games takes place sometime in the distant future in the ruins of North America, now known as Panem. In this dystopia future, an event is held each year known as the Hunger Games, where children from age 12 to 18 are selected by lottery to compete in a televised fight to the death with only one surviving victor. The heroine, Katniss Everdeen , enters the Hunger Games after her younger sister’s name is selected from the lottery and she volunteers to take her place.
Collins’ style is very well written, easy to read, and fast paced. Every chapter leaves the reader in suspense and is nearly impossible to put down. The basic plot of kids killing kids for survival has been done before, in novels such as Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale, but the similarities end with that violent concept. The novel also deals with other serious issues such as hunger, political corruption, and what passes as entertainment for a public so desensitized and dehumanized by televised violence and reality shows. Collins has said the story is also inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus, as well as an experience of channel surfing between reality shows and coverage of the war in Iraq.
The Hunger Games is definitely a book to check out, a story that is wonderfully woven with intricate of excellent sub-plots, tear-jerking events, and an ending that will leave you dying to get your hands on the sequel.