Book 19 - The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Just so you know, I do take recommendations, and I actually act on them.  I don't read every book that is recommended to me, but I will almost always give it serious consideration.  Please leave your suggestions in the comments section of the blog, or on my FB page.

Book 19 - The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is the first book in a very popular teen fiction series set in a futuristic America.  Panem, the central capital, rules over twelve districts with an iron hand.  There used to be thirteen districts, but one of them was destroyed in the process of putting down a rebellion, and now once a year the capital demands that each of the remaining districts send one boy and one girl to participate in a spectacle known as The Hunger Games.  One might think that this is some quaint little sporting event, modeled after the Olympics or the X-Games to promote peace and harmony among the districts.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is a bloodsport in which these youngsters, aged 12-18 (not surprisingly the same demographic at which the books are aimed), are forced to fight to the death in an open-air arena.  The environment is under the control of the game masters, and is engineered to present just as much of a deadly challenge to the fighters as any of their fellow gladiators.  The whole affair is broadcast on live television, with nightly recaps of who died that day.

Katniss is a teenage girl from District 12, which was once Appalachia.  She is very poor, and helps feed her mother and younger sister by illegally hunting in the woods outside the District 12 fence.  She usually hunts with her friend Gale, a boy maybe a few years older than her.  They typically bring home enough meat to feed their respective families, with some extra to trade for other goods at the local market.

When Katniss' little sister, just twelve, is selected for the games, Katniss volunteers to take her place, and is sent to the capital with the baker's son Peeta.  After a brief training period, they are thrust into the arena.  The game turns out to be just as much about survival against the elements as it is about battling the others.  Provisions are scarce, and one must generally engage in direct battle with others to obtain them.  Katniss' skills as a huntress allow her avoid these skirmishes by obtaining her food from her environment, but water sources are few as well, and are placed to help force conflict, making it difficult to survive without engaging the others.  Some of the players form alliances, but these are typically short-lived and rife with distrust, because in the end there can only be one winner.

Because this is teen fiction, there has to be teen drama.  Katniss has been too wrapped up in taking care of her family to notice boys, so when she learns that Peeta has had a crush on her forever, she starts to wonder about the so-far platonic relationship she has with Gale.  To further complicate things, her alcoholic coach has devised a plot-line in which she and Peeta are a love interest, so she must keep up appearances by playing kissy-face with him.  This "relationship" becomes incredibly popular with the viewing audience and proves to be even more advantageous than they could possibly imagine.

I can understand why these books are so popular.  It's the classic theme of righteous teens against a world of either evil and/or inept grown-ups.  There's silly teen romance, but it doesn't slow down the action.  I thought it might be a little violent for younger readers, but I guess it's no worse than anything else they see on the movie or the video screen.  All-in-all, it beats the heck out of sparkly vampires.