Still Hungry for Hunger Games?

The Hunger Games

by Guest Author Evan

The Hunger Games is a great book by Suzanne Collins. This is a fictional book with an odd futuristic concept. The story is told through a child's eyes. This book may be better for a more mature audience between the ages of 12 to 50. In my opinion the book is a heroic, action, false love story with no way out of your seat.

In the story two children are put through a life threatening endeavor. Decisions have to be made that never should have to be made by anyone. Love is really only a back drop for the big picture. This is definitely a memorable book. Some people may not agree with the positions the author puts the children in; it is a crazy concept, but it shows a different side of society. 

In my thoughts it shows a person’s true view of the future. I believe this book  shows a futuristic view of an extremist government. You just can’t put this book down after the first page. In the book, the author set up the ending so that you keep thinking about it. You just can't get the book off of your mind.

Two Pleasures Struggling Readers Miss Out On

Before school began, I had the absolute pleasure of seeing Suzanne Collins at Oblong Books and Music in Millerton, NY. Oblong is an amazing little indie store, but it is off the beaten path, so I was surprised a celebrity like Ms. Collins was coming to our small town! The event was exciting with a huge line snaking around the store before the event, gift bags from Scholastic, and the anticipation of seeing the beloved author of the Hunger Games series.

When we all packed into the top floor (as many people as it could hold!), we were treated with an incredible reading. First was an excerpt from Catching Fire so we could "get used to the Futuristic Appalachian accent" Collins uses to portray Katniss Everdeen. (It was a pretty cool accent!). Then she read from the first chapter of Mockingjay. Before she started reading I was thinking about a) how uncomfortable I was squished in a lump on the hardwood floor and b) how gosh darn cool it was that Suzanne Collins has the same shoes I do! Then the book reading began and the story of Katniss, District 12, and Panem washed over me like seeing an old friend. I was sitting not 4 feet from the same woman whose books I have read multiple times (the most recent rereading was of the first two books right before the third was released)!

This was not the first time I had the opportunity to meet an author. Working in bookstores throughout college and having attended a number of author functions, I have had the opportunity to meet a number of wonderful authors- some famous, some not. But there is always something exhilarating about the experience- even when the author is nothing like what you expected form their book! This got me thinking. My students are struggling readers. They are dyslexic, and reading has always been elusive for them- this chore adults keep telling them they should like and be good at. My students struggle to get through a single book, let alone to reread it. And they seem so relieved to finish a book that meeting the author is the furthest thing from their minds. It almost seems, both comically and sadly, that they see the author as purposely torturing them with those pages.

Rereading can be such an incredible experience. The first book I reread was Ann M. Martin's 10 Kids no Pets when I was in elementary school. I LOVED this book! Since then, rereading has been comforting for me- like a visit from an old friend or a favorite aunt or uncle- something that doesn't happen often, but when you see them again, it is as though no time has passed. With Suzanne Collins' books, rereading was just as exciting as the first time I plowed through those pages. For my students, however, they are just happy to finish any book. Rarely do they have the opportunity to love a book enough to pick it up again. This realization made me so sad!

How do we get children to revisit stories they have already read? How do we get them excited to meet an author, especially to hear the author read from a book they loved? I think the most crucial part in making book lovers out of struggling readers is finding the perfect book for that student. Yesterday was my first day of classes for the school year. I discovered one of my students has the same love for dystopian and post-apocalyptic literature as I do. We barely got his homework down because we talked about doomsday stories for almost the entire period! It was beautiful! Making a connection with a student like that is the very reason I became a teacher. And throw the books into the mix and you have just made my year! Enthusiasm is contagious. When we are excited about books, our students become excited. If we know our students, know the books, and are excited about them, cultivated a love for reading just might happen, struggling reader or not!

Mockingjays on the Fence

I want to premise this review with a few things. First, Hunger Games is one of my favorite books. Catching Fire was just as good, if not better! Finally, Suzanne Collins must have made some kind of Faustian deal to be such an amazing writer, or at least have some special powers. When the third and final installment was released on Tuesday, I was thrilled! I have been waiting for this book for over a year! But when it came to actually reading the book, I knew something was wrong. Earlier in the week I had reread the first two books and found them just as captivating and engrossing as the first time I had read them. But Mockingjay? I kept putting it down! I had no problem setting it aside to do something else... This didn't bode well.

Mockingjay picks up shortly after Catching Fire left off with the rebels from District 13 saving Katniss, Finnick, and Beetee from the arena in the 75th Hunger Games. Her family and Gale and his family have gotten out of District 12 with a handful of other refugees, but most of the people and all of the district (except Victor's Village) has been bombed and burned to the ground. Now Katniss is living with the other refugees and District 13 in their underground facilities that are basically a subterranean city. But Katniss isn't really "living" in the the realest sense. Mostly she hides, shirks her duties, and avoids all contact with people if possible.

When President Coin, the leader of District 13, wants Katniss to agree to be the Mockingjay, a symbol of freedom and courage for the rebel movement against the Capitol, Katniss refuses at first. When she sees Peeta, who was captured by the Capitol, on TV and he has clearly been beaten and tortured, she agrees to be the Mockingjay with a few conditions- one being the immunity of all Hunger Games victors, including Peeta. District 13 then primps and preens Katniss into the Mockingjay and parades her through multiple propaganda videos (called propos) to keep the war effort motivated. Of course, this involves keeping her mostly out of danger, with the exception of a few surprise attacks by the Capitol.

*Spoiler Alert*
Once the Districts have been won over by the rebels, however, the Capitol is the final battle to be won. Coin creates a group of "Celebrity" soldiers that includes Katniss, Finnick, Gale, and Peeta, among others, and she sends them off to the Capitol. The carefully planned mission, however, goes horribly awry when the "pods" (easily triggered defensive weapons that carry everything from black tar waves, to shrapnel bombs, to tracker jackers) are too numerous to avoid. As the Capitol bombs their previous hiding place and assumes they are all dead, the group makes its way to President Snow's mansion on an assassination mission. It doesn't go as planned, however, and Katniss's greatest fears are quickly becoming realities.

I wanted to love this book so much. In fact, it wouldn't have taken much for me to absolutely love it as much as the first two books in the series, but for some reason it fell short for me. It wasn't a huge disappointment, just not as amazing as the first two books were. I would love to hear how others felt about it, because I am worried maybe my own expectations negatively affected my opinion. The truth is I hated Katniss in this book. She was weak and damaged. Ok, I can accept that. But she was also whiny, petulant, and refused to take responsibility for the revolution she played a part in. I wanted so much more out of this older, more mature, and wiser Katniss. I didn't want her to hide in laundry rooms and broom closets for naps throughout the whole book. Even when she gets Peeta back (in bad shape, but away from the Capitol at least), she is still moping about. She does go on about killing Snow, but it almost seems like an afterthought.

Another complaint was the rushed feeling of the deaths of major characters. I will admit, I was reading quickly at some points, but I would read a paragraph and a character would be gone with very little explanation or time to process. Just GONE! Now, I read quite a few apocalyptic stories and dystopias, and I am not surprised when important characters are killed. That is, after all, the nature of the genre. But why wouldn't you give those characters the respect they are due?

I did like the guilt Katniss displayed at how many lives were at stake because of the revolution she was involved in. Every rebel life, every innocent civilian life, and every district that was affected by the war is like one more thing peeling away at Katniss's sanity. I know she was a reluctant face of this war, but is important to see her pain for each and every death her involvement is even loosely responsible for. This humility was one of the most endearing qualities in Katniss, from her first time in the arena with the loss of Rue and even Thresh, all the way to the loss of her friends, like Cinna, and the people of her district. Unfortunately, this guilt seemed to overwhelm the determined Katniss we saw in the first two books- the Katniss who grieved for those losses but it didn't make her stop surviving the most hopeless of situations.

On a whole, this was a decent ending to the series. It isn't what I expected, but that is a good quality in a book. There were some things I didn't like, but they didn't ruin the whole thing for me. I loved this series as a whole, and can't wait to give it to my new students this school year. I am interested to hear what others though, though!

Catching Fire Sure Caught ME!

OK, if I didn't convince you to read Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins in my previous post, this second installment of the trilogy has got to persuade you. Without ruining either book for you, I have got to share a few important details. First, the Capitol is just an EVIL establishment. Second, how do these people not revolt?!

This second book picks up where Hunger Games left off- Katniss is returning home after the Games and finds herself in a predicament. The President insists she behave and act like a docile, innocent winner in order to squelch the uprisings that are taking place across the Districts. With Katniss as their symbol of hope and a life without the Games or the Capitol, the people of Panem are finally fighting back. But when her family is threatened, Katniss tries to do as she was told. Unfortunately, the new twist to the Quarter Quell- the 25th anniversary of the Games- leads to new levels of horror.

Where Hunger Games was shock and awe, Catching Fire just makes you angry. And the Quarter Quell was a new, morbid twist on things you will never see coming! When I ordered this book, I knew I had to wait to read it until I had the entire day to devote to it- it is just too addictive to put down! So if you choose to partake in the twisted magic Collins weaves, make sure you set aside enough time- otherwise you are going to find yourself calling in to work because you just can't stop reading! And beware of the ending... but at least we know there is a third one on the way!

Hunger Games leaves me craving MORE!

I picked up Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins at a local bookstore solely because the recommendation was written by a former colleague with similar YA tastes. It sat on my shelf until one day I picked it up and couldn't put it down until it was finished. Hunger Games is the type of novel that can convince people who aren't fond of reading that books really can hold you captive.

It starts out describing the post-apocalyptic world Katniss Everdeen lives in, complete with starving people and a controlling, malicious government. She is then swept into the Hunger Games in an effort to save her sister. The Hunger Games are a yearly event where each of the 12 districts that make up Panem must sacrifice one boy and one girl to a deadly battle that only ends when there is one child left alive. This grisly battle takes place in arena controlled by the Capitol, who can manipulate the playing field anytime the action slows.

Many criticize Hunger Games for being gratuitously violent (which it is), and a rip-off of Battle Royale (which it kind of is). However, the violence is steeped in true post-apocalyptic themes that can be a spring board for students who might enjoy such a genre but read at a lower level than most post-apocalyptic are written at. Let's face it- there aren't many willing to take on such a genre in YA lit, but this book is written carefully while still holding true to such a terrifying situation.

While the story is similar to Battle Royale (junior high kids forced to battle to the death), it is much more reader friendly for teen readers and it is less daunting in size (Battle Royale is over 600 pages!). That does not mean BR isn't an amazing book, but Hunger Games might be just the book to get your toughest students reading. And don't discount its appeal to adults either! It is creative, captivating, and a new spin on a terrifying story. Give Hunger Games a try. I promise you won't be sorry! (Plus the second book, Catching Fire, just came out too!)