The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press 2008
Audience: High school students
Summary: This book begins with a girl, Katniss Everdeen, and her volunteering to be District 12’s tribute. Katniss lives in the poorest district in Panam. She lives with her mother and sister. The district is very dull and the main export is coal. There are 12 districts in Panam. Each district has their own main means of money and each district is a different class all the way up to the Capitol where everyone is very glorious, pretty and rich. Every year, one boy and one girl are picked from each district to volunteer to “play” in the Hunger Games. This is an event where children from ages 12 to 18 fight to the death until only one player remains, becoming the Victor. The games are loved by the people of the Capitol. It could be comparable to our Olympics. Katniss and the boy from her district, Peta, travel to the Capitol, beginning training and see a whole different life than what they are used to living. Katniss comes from the poorest district. She isn’t used to the new life style. Katniss and Peta finally enter the games and use their own strategies to stay alive in the arena.
Themes:
Society: The games is a competition of each district. Each district represents their economy. Each district has their own set of skills and ideas. Each district is from a different class. It is well known that districts with more money have won more games. Basically, the more money you have the better of chance of survival. Katniss turns this idea upside down when she starts to change that impressing the sponsors in training and by being one of the last tributes in the games.
“I can't win. Prim must know that in her heart. The competition will be far beyond my abilities. Kids from wealthier districts, where winning is a huge honor, who've been trained their whole lives for this. Boys who are two to three times my size. Girls who know twenty different ways to kill you with a knife. Oh, there'll be people like me, too. People to weed out before the real fun begins.”
Appearances: Katniss quickly learns in when she arrives at the Capitol that her appearance means everything, especially life or death. She needs to please as many people as possible with her looks and charm. The other tributes have to do the same. This way people can sponsor her and send her help in the arena to stay alive. It is a hard concept for Katniss to wrap her head around since she lived a life of hand me down clothes and hunting for her own food.
"They do surgery in the Capitol, to make people appear younger and thinner. In District 12, looking old is something of an achievement since so many people die early. You see an elderly person, you want to congratulate them on their longevity, ask the secret of survival. A plump person is envied because they aren't scraping by like the majority of us. But it is different. Wrinkles aren't desirable. A round belly isn't a sign of success." Page 124
Reaction: This is the first book of a trilogy. At first reading it, you think of how crazy and far out of the world this society is. But after a while it is easier and easier to relate to our world today. This can make a very interesting conversation with students, relating an extreme book to the real world today.
Scholastic Press 2008
Audience: High school students
Summary: This book begins with a girl, Katniss Everdeen, and her volunteering to be District 12’s tribute. Katniss lives in the poorest district in Panam. She lives with her mother and sister. The district is very dull and the main export is coal. There are 12 districts in Panam. Each district has their own main means of money and each district is a different class all the way up to the Capitol where everyone is very glorious, pretty and rich. Every year, one boy and one girl are picked from each district to volunteer to “play” in the Hunger Games. This is an event where children from ages 12 to 18 fight to the death until only one player remains, becoming the Victor. The games are loved by the people of the Capitol. It could be comparable to our Olympics. Katniss and the boy from her district, Peta, travel to the Capitol, beginning training and see a whole different life than what they are used to living. Katniss comes from the poorest district. She isn’t used to the new life style. Katniss and Peta finally enter the games and use their own strategies to stay alive in the arena.
Themes:
Society: The games is a competition of each district. Each district represents their economy. Each district has their own set of skills and ideas. Each district is from a different class. It is well known that districts with more money have won more games. Basically, the more money you have the better of chance of survival. Katniss turns this idea upside down when she starts to change that impressing the sponsors in training and by being one of the last tributes in the games.
“I can't win. Prim must know that in her heart. The competition will be far beyond my abilities. Kids from wealthier districts, where winning is a huge honor, who've been trained their whole lives for this. Boys who are two to three times my size. Girls who know twenty different ways to kill you with a knife. Oh, there'll be people like me, too. People to weed out before the real fun begins.”
Appearances: Katniss quickly learns in when she arrives at the Capitol that her appearance means everything, especially life or death. She needs to please as many people as possible with her looks and charm. The other tributes have to do the same. This way people can sponsor her and send her help in the arena to stay alive. It is a hard concept for Katniss to wrap her head around since she lived a life of hand me down clothes and hunting for her own food.
"They do surgery in the Capitol, to make people appear younger and thinner. In District 12, looking old is something of an achievement since so many people die early. You see an elderly person, you want to congratulate them on their longevity, ask the secret of survival. A plump person is envied because they aren't scraping by like the majority of us. But it is different. Wrinkles aren't desirable. A round belly isn't a sign of success." Page 124
Reaction: This is the first book of a trilogy. At first reading it, you think of how crazy and far out of the world this society is. But after a while it is easier and easier to relate to our world today. This can make a very interesting conversation with students, relating an extreme book to the real world today.