by Suzanne Collins
Synopsis:
Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living
with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem,
the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts
waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender
terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in
an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The
terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but
one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen
by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.
Review:
As a mother of the age group this book
is written about, this was a disturbing book to read, yet the heart
pounding action and strong female lead character led me to an all
night, read until your eyes pop out marathon. I finished this book in
one sitting and then downloaded the next one.
The Hunger Games is a contest held once
a year in the country of Panem to remind the the citizens of the
hardships endured after the United States collapsed and Panem was
organized. The brutal, 24-men-enter-one-man-leaves concept is harsh
enough, but these games use teenagers as contestants. While the
citizens of Panem may find the games entertaining, they are very real
and terrifying to the contestants chosen.
Katniss is very protective of her
little sister, Prim and when Prim's name is chosen in “The Reaping”
as the representative from her district, Katniss automatically
volunteers to take her place. The book follows Katniss's journey to
the capitol, her training and then the winner take all game itself.
The action is intense, and the author does a great job describing the
terrain so that the scenes play like a movie in your mind.
This book is written for teens. The
content may be PG-13, but the theme and concept of children being
forced to kill other children to defend themselves for something as
trivial as entertaining television is absolutely horrifying. This
book is probably more disturbing to parents than it is to teens. As
disturbing as it is, this is still a well written, very entertaining
book.
Intended audience: Teens and up.
Other books by this author:
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