The Hunger Games

Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press.

Summary

Panem is a nation that that has risen from the ruins of a North America destroyed by natural disasters and wars. At its beginning, it was made up of one Capitol that controlled thirteen districts, each responsible for a specific industry like technology, agriculture, or textiles. Then came the Dark Days: the districts rebelled against the Capitol and almost won, until the Capitol obliterated District 13 and regained its oppressive control of the remaining districts. The Hunger Games are an annual "celebration" that all the citizens of Panem are forced to watch. To remind the districts of the Capitol's total control over them (as if they could forget), each district is forced to hold a lottery to choose one boy and one girl tribute to send to the Games. After the twenty-four tributes are paraded through the Capitol and celebrated by the bizarre looking humans who live there, they are thrown into the arena and the games begin. The rules are simple: use whatever skills you have to survive, and whatever weapons you can find to kill the other tributes, for the last tribute alive is crowned the victor. And the whole thing is televised to the entire country. Katniss Everdeen, like all twelve to eighteen year olds in District 12, dreads the annual reaping with fear that she might be chosen. However this year, a nightmare she never considered happens: her twelve-year-old sister, Prim, is chosen in the reaping. Frantic with fear at the thought of her little sister in the arena, Katniss volunteers to take her place in the Games, even though she knows this means she will certainly never return home alive. Even though she is forced to play along with the Capitol and their Games, Katniss is not a girl to go down without a fight. She becomes known as "the girl on fire" and ignites a spirit across the districts she never dreamed possible.

Worth a bookmark?

The Hunger Games is truly one of the best books I have ever read, yet it is so different than books I usually fall in love with! It is fast paced, suspenseful, and heart-wrenching. Katniss Everdeen is a dynamic character who is far from perfect, but fights to survive while doing the right thing, even though it means personal danger. Readers empathize with her as she struggles with conflicting emotions and decisions that could literally mean the difference between life and death. I don't think you'll need a bookmark for this book, because you won't be able to put it down!

This first book in the trilogy introduces the characters and setting, as well as showing the reader issues with an tyrannical government from the perspective of its suffering citizens that are further developed in the next books.

In my library…

This book and the series are great for booktalks to get kids excited about books. I have also come across an activity designed by a librarian in Colorado that recreated the Hunger Games combined with a food drive. Here is a link to information and pictures of this activity that got kids begging for this book! http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=331908

Reviews

Brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced…a futuristic novel every bit as good and as allegorically rich as Scott Westerfeld's Uglies books…the considerable strength of the novel comes in Collins's convincingly detailed world-building and her memorably complex and fascinating heroine. In fact, by not calling attention to itself, the text disappears in the way a good font does: nothing stands between Katniss and the reader, between Panem and America. This makes for an exhilarating narrative and a future we can fear and believe in, but it also allows us to see the similarities between Katniss's world and ours. (The New York Times—John Green)

Among the Hidden

Haddix, M. (1998). Among the hidden. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Summary

Luke is twelve years old. He has never been to school, never been inside a store, and never visited family or friends. In fact, Luke has never ridden in a car or been further from home than his own back yard. Before Luke was born, the government made a law that limited each family to only two children because of the threat of shortages of food and resources. This law, strictly enforced by the Population Police, meant that Luke was not supposed to exist so for the protection of both him and his family he must stay hidden at all times. Luke accepts this fate until the government decides to develop the woods and fields surrounding his farm house into housing. His life is now confined to the attic, because if anyone saw him through a window or suspected a third child in their home, Luke's entire family would be punished or even killed. Luke becomes bitter and resentful in his new life, and passes the time by watching the developing neighborhood through the attic vent. He soon learns the schedule of everyone coming and going from the new homes. One day he is shocked to see a curtain flutter in a house where no one should have been. As days and weeks pass, his desperation fuels his courage to leave the safety of his attic to discover a secret that could mean he is not the only hidden child.

Worth a bookmark?

Among the Hidden is a fast-paced book that keeps its readers on the edge of their seat with many surprises. Depicting a society that is scary, yet not difficult to believe in, the characters are faced with problems that many believe may be in our not-so-distant future. Readers may identify with the pressure Luke feels to conform to rules that he does not agree with, but feels powerless to change. Luke's character is dynamic throughout the book; initially he meekly accepts his circumstances but eventually he begins to feel empowered to make small steps that may lead to major changes in his life and the lives of other hidden children. This book is the first in its series and the ending sets up the sequel by leaving the reader itching to know what happens to Luke next.

In my library…

This book could be used as an introduction to science fiction and/or fantasy. Readers who shy away from these genres because they can be so far-fetched and heavy with technical terms could ease into the genres with this book because it is more realistic than other science fiction. It also has some elements of a good mystery, like suspense and twists, that would keep a reader turning the pages and even picking up the next book.

Reviews

Gr 5-8-Born third at a time when having more than two children per family is illegal and subject to seizure and punishment by the Population Police, Luke has spent all of his 12 years in hiding. His parents disobeyed once by having him and are determined not to do anything unlawful again. At first the woods around his family's farm are thick enough to conceal him when he plays and works outdoors, but when the government develops some of that land for housing, his world narrows to just the attic. Gazing through an air vent at new homes, he spies a child's face at a window after the family of four has already left for the day. Is it possible that he is not the only hidden child? Answering this question brings Luke greater danger than he has ever faced before, but also greater possibilities for some kind of life outside of the attic. This is a near future of shortages and deprivation where widespread famines have led to a totalitarian government that controls all aspects of its citizens' lives. When the boy secretly ventures outside the attic and meets the girl in the neighboring house, he learns that expressing divergent opinions openly can lead to tragedy. To what extent is he willing to defy the government in order to have a life worth living? As in Haddix's Running Out of Time (S & S, 1995), the loss of free will is the fundamental theme of an exciting and compelling story of one young person defying authority and the odds to make a difference. Readers will be captivated by Luke's predicament and his reactions to it.-Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA (School Library Journal)