The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Collins, S. (2008). The hunger games. New York: Scholastic Press
ISBN: 0439023483

Plot
Katniss Everdeen is a 16 year old girl who lives in a harsh, dystopian, future world. She hunts and forages with her friend Gale to feed her family. When her 12 year old sister is selected to participate in the deadly Hunger Games (a sick, nationally televised fight to the death between randomly chosen teenagers from each district of the country), Katniss volunteers to take her place. Joining her on her quest to survive the games is a boy from her district, Peeta. Peeta and Katniss join forces to survive. Peeta has told Katniss that he loves her on television before the games began. This is popular with the audience. It is decided that two may survive the games this year, instead of just one. Katniss uses her hunting experience to survive. When Peeta is hurt, she protects him. But she defies the government on two occassions. Once when she uses flowers to decorate the body of a young girl she had made an alliance with after another contestant has killed her. She defies the government again when she and Peeta are crossed-up and told that there will only be one survivor, after all. They decide to eat poison berries, instead. The powers that be relent. But now Katniss is in danger from the government she openly defied on national television. She must pretend that she is in love with Peeta to explain her actions. It is then that she learns that Peeta really does love her. The book ends as they return to their home district. The story continues in the second book of the trilogy, Catching Fire.

Critical Evaluation
This is an exciting and fast-paced thriller. Collins writing has evolved to a high level. There is tragedy and tenderness portrayed with equal skill. She is an excellent descriptive writer. The dystopian setting and brutal conditions of Katniss' world is vividly depicted. Collins puts the reader in the position of rooting for a character in the barbaric Hunger Games, while simultaneously being appalled and fascinated by them. There are obvious reflections of our own society in these brutal games. This is a wonderful new series by Collins.

Readers Annotation
Katniss Everdeen volunteers to be a contestant in the televised, brutal Hunger Games to save her little sister. If she wins, she will have fame and fortune and her family will be safe. If she loses, she dies. To win, she must kill everyone else in the games. Her story is thrilling and heartbreaking at the same time.

About the Author

American Suzanne Collins is the author of the best selling YA series The Underland Chronicles. The Hunger Games trilogy is her second entry into the world of tween literature and represents a significant step forward for her as it has garnered a huge cross-over adult audience and a movie deal. She is the daughter of an Air Force officer and grew up in Europe and on the East Coast. She began as a children's television writer. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two teenage children.

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties: Language Arts

Booktalk Ideas: Friendship, betrayal, bravery

Reading Level: Grade 6+
Interest Level: Grade 7+
Challenge Issues: Violence. This book could be defended on the basis of it's overall message that what is happening is wrong. It is a multiple award winner.

This is included because it is the first book in Suzanne Collins breathtaking new trilogy.

Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Collins, S. (2009). Catching fire (1st ed.). New York: Scholastic Press
ISBN: 0439023491

Plot

Katniss Everdeen has won the brutal Hunger Games. But when she returns home to District 12, life is not as easy as it was promised to be. First of all, she feels torn between Peeta, the boy she won the games with, and Gale, her long time friend. Secondly, her defiant actions during the games have had unforeseen and dire consequences. The President of Panem is upset with the underlying feelings of rebellion her actions have stirred. She must take a cruel victory tour through the vanquished districts with Peeta and pretend that the only reason she did what she did was because of her overwhelming feelings of love for him. When this does nothing to quell the defiance of the people, she is thrown back into a super Hunger Games: one in which only past winners compete. She and Peeta team-up with other competitors. When she learns of one's plan to harness lightning to destroy other players, she shoots an electrified arrow into the force field containing the arena. This destroys the arena and temporarily paralyzes Katniss. When she awakes, she is being transferred to District 13, a district that supposedly had been destroyed generations ago. Her friend Gale is with her and informs her that he got her sister and mother out in time. She is confused by this. Why are they not home in District 12? Gale tells her, "Katniss, there is no District 12."

Critical Evaluation

Catching Fire starts out slower than The Hunger Games, but then rapidly picks up pace to become exciting and action-packed. Collins' writing is as descriptive and gripping as ever. The tour through the districts is heart breaking. Katniss' character is deepened as her dreams are haunted by faces of the vanquished from the games. The book ends with a turn of events that leaves the reader hungry for more.

Readers Annotation

Katniss Everdeen thought her problems were over once she won The Hunger Games. Little did she know that her troubles had just begun. Her defiant actions in the games have stirred rebellion in the districts. Now her life and those of all she loves are threatened if she can't play the government's game exactly as planned.

About the Author

American Suzanne Collins is the author of the best selling YA series The Underland Chronicles. The Hunger Games trilogy is her second entry into the world of tween literature and represents a significant step forward for her as it has garnered a huge cross-over adult audience and a movie deal. She is the daughter of an Air Force officer and grew up in Europe and on the East Coast. She began as a children's television writer. She lives in Conneticut with her husband and two tennage children.

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties: Language Arts

Booktalk Ideas: Friendship, betrayal, bravery

Reading Level: Grade 6+
Interest Level: Grade 7+
Challenge Issues: Violence. This book could be defended on the basis of it's overall message is that what is happening is wrong.There is social commentary which makes the violence an integral part of the plot.

This is included because it is the second book in Suzanne Collins breathtaking new trilogy.

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins

Book 2 in the series, The Underland Chronicles

Collins, S. (2004). Gregor and the prophecy of bane. Scholastic Inc.: New York.

ISBN: 0439731372

Plot 
Gregor returns to the Underland when his baby sister, Boots, is kidnapped. There he must embark on another quest. As in the first book of the series, Gregor the Overlander, he is joined on his quest by several of the strange creatures of the Underland. They are seeking to kill The Bane. It is prophesized that The Bane will be the destruction of the Underland. The rats think The Bane is Boots, Gregor’s little sister. The humans are convinced it is a rat. Gregor watches Boots and Luxa, the royal human princess, apparently drown on the quest. He decides to kill The Bane anyway. When he meets The Bane, it is a baby rat. Gregor cannot kill it as it is just a baby. When he returns to the human’s capitol city, he is put on trial for not killing The Bane. It is revealed that the true meaning of the prophecy is that the warrior’s heart will die if he kills The Bane. Gregor has done the right thing. Gregor discovers that Boots is alive, although there is no word of Luxa. Boots and Gregor return to the Overland with a new prophecy to ponder: The Prophecy of Blood.

Critical Evaluation 
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane is a worthy follow-up to Gregor the Overlander. Once again, Collins’ writing is fast paced and action packed. Her plotting is suspenseful, full of exciting twists and turns. The book is written on an appropriate level for tweens. The violence is not graphic. Gregor is a character who under great duress chooses morality over military duty, political expediency and self-preservation. Young people who love heart-pounding, non-stop action in the fantasy genre will love Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane.

Reader’s Annotation 
Those who loved Gregor the Overlander will love its sequel Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane. We find Gregor embarked on another quest in the strange Underland. This time he must save his little sister who has been kidnapped by Underlanders and is marked for death by the rats. Gregor must assassinate the mysterious Bane to save the Underland. But will he be able to accomplish his quest and save his sister as well? This is just one of the dilemmas to be found in Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane.

About the Author Suzanne Collins is an American author born in 1964. She worked in children’s television before she became a young adult fiction writer. Gregor the Overlander was her first book. There are five books in the series. She followed it up with The Hunger Games trilogy, which has garnered her a cross over her adult audience. 

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties: Language Arts

Booktalk Ideas: What would you do if you had to choose between your survival and doing something you know is wrong?

Reading Level: Grade 5+
Interest level: Grade 5+
Challenge Issues: None

This book was included because it is an excellent story with high interest to the target audience written at an appropriate level.

Gregor the Overlander

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Book 1 in the series, The Underland Chronicles

Collins, S. (2003). Gregor the overlander. Scholastic Inc.: New York.

ISBN: 0439435274

Plot 
Gregor’s family is poor. He lives in a New York City apartment building with his mother, his two little sisters and grandmother. His father disappeared when he was 8. He falls down a hole into a strange place called the Underland. The Underland is a world without sunlight where cockroaches, spiders, bats and rats are human size and speak. Gregor leads a band of humans, bats, spiders, and cock roaches on a quest to rescue his father who is being held prisoner by the rats, the bad guys of the Underland. Gregor and his band of Underworlders set off into rat territory. There are battles and betrayals. The group manages to save Gregor’s father. In the midst of battle, Gregor realizes that he is the main focus of the rats’ aggression. He determines to sacrifice himself taking as many rats with him as possible. He runs out onto an unstable precipice and is followed by many rats. Their combined weight collapses the rock face. Rats fall to their death. Gregor is saved by a giant bat. The battle with the rats is won, for now. Gregor returns to his family in New York City, but not before being made aware of a prophecy which predicts his return to the Underland.

Critical Evaluation 
This story is written for the tween audience. It is fast paced and tightly plotted. The action is nonstop, yet the violence is not graphic. This book is appropriate for young audiences on both reading and interest levels. Young readers who have lost loved ones or who have been given responsibilities not normally imparted to tweens will identify with the characters of Gregor and Luxa, the young Underland Queen.

Readers Annotation 

Gregor is an 11 year old boy who falls down a grate in his laundry room into a strange, new world called the Underland. There he becomes an unwilling warrior and leads a coalition of Underlanders on a quest to rescue a fellow Overlander imprisoned there. Could this Overlander be his missing father? Gregor’s adventure will change him and the Underland. It may solve the biggest mystery of his life.

Information About the Author

Suzanne Collins is an American author born in 1964. She worked in children’s television before she became a young adult fiction writer. Gregor the Overlander was her first book. There are five books in the series. She followed it up with The Hunger Games trilogy, which has garnered her a cross over her adult audience.

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction 

Curriculum Ties: Language Arts 
Booktalk Ideas: Facing scary new challenges. 
Reading Level: Grade 5+
Interest Level: Grade 5+
Challenge Issues: None

This book was included because it is an excellent story with high interest to the target audience written at an appropriate level.