The Hunger Games: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 9780439023481


Plot Summary: The Hunger Games is set in a futuristic place: the nation of Panem. In the nation of Panem there are twelve districts. The capitol of Panem is rich and the twelve outlying districts are poor. Every year each district sends one girl and one boy between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in The Hunger Games to keep order within the districts. The Hunger Games are a televised event where the participants fight to the death. Katniss Everdenn is a sixteen-year-old girl from District 12. Her younger sister, Prim, is chosen for The Hunger Games, but Katniss volunteers to take her place. She cannot stand the thought of her sweet sister dying.

Peeta, a boy Katniss knows from giving her bread and thereby saving her and her family, is also chosen to participate in The Hunger Games. They are taken to the Capitol and are introduced along with the other participants, called "tributes". On television, Peeta reveals his love for Katniss which Katness believes is a ploy on Peeta's part to gain audience approval. The audience is allowed to send gifts to the tributes which can aide in their survival. Katniss is an accomplished hunter which aides in her survival. The rules of the game are changed because of Peeta and Katniss's "love" and it is announced that a "pair" may win The Hunger Games. Katniss and Peeta play the audience and when Katniss finds Peeta wounded she nurses him back to health. They are on their way to winning the games but it is suddenly announced there may be only one winner. Katness and Peeta declare suicide and they are then both declared winners.


Critical Evaluation: I read The Hunger Games when it was first published at the insistence of a thirteen year old gifted girl I knew from my work who raved about the novel. It is not the type of book I normally read, but it is very powerful. Suzanne Collins does an excellent job in depicting a future society devoid of humanity and relying on survival skills. As a person preferring non-violence, the novel was upsetting because of the thought of young adults killing each other, let alone adults killing each other.

Annotation: When sixteen-year-old Katniss and Peeta are sent to their deaths in The Hunger Games, who is going to win? What happens in a bleak futuristic society where children are sent to fight like Gladiators?

About the Author: Suzanne Collins started out as a writer for children's television shows for Nickelodeon. She also wrote for Scholastic Entertainment's Clifford's Puppy Days. Suzanne started writing her own books after being inspired by James Proimos, a children's author. The Underland Chronicles was a New York Times best selling five book series that was inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Suzanne thought of Alice going down a hole and came up with Gregor, the protagonist of Gregor the Overlander, who goes down a manhole in New York City and discovers a fantasy land.

Suzanne went on and wrote The Hunger Games Trilogy which was very successful. Just as The Underland Series had a lot of violence, so does The Hunger Games Series. Collins was heavily influenced by Greek Mythology and her father's position in the Air Force. Her father was a military specialist, historian and a doctor of political science. He went to Vietnam for a year when Collins was little. Her father's tales influenced Collins' writings of severe poverty, starvation, oppression and the devastating effects of war.

Retrieved March 23, 2010 at: http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/


Genre: Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties: Literature/Reading Circles

Book Talking Ideas: In a futuristic society, what young adolescent is going to survive The Hunger Games, where there is only one winner? What is it like to live in a world where poverty, hunger and violence is your way of life?

Reading Levels and Interest: 13 and up

Challenge Issues: Violence/death of adolescents

Reason for Inclusion: A very powerful, thought provoking novel. It would be well suited for teen literature studies.