The Hunger Games [Kindle Edition] review

Starred Review. Reviewed by Megan Whalen Turner
If there really are only seven original plots in the world, it's odd that boy meets girl is definitely mentioned, and society goes bad and attacks the nice guy never is. Yet we have Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, The Home from the Scorpion—and now, following a good tradition of Brave New Worlds, The Hunger Games. Collins hasn't tied her future to a specific date, or weighted it down with too much finger wagging. Rather less 1984 and rather more Death Race 2000, hers is a gripping story set in a postapocalyptic world the place where a replacement to the United states of america demands a tribute from each of the company's territories: two children to be used as gladiators inside a televised fight for the death.Katniss, from that which was once Appalachia, offers to look at the host to her sister inside the Hunger Games, but after this ultimate sacrifice, she's entirely centered on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta, who recognizes the importance of holding to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances. It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a brand new Theseus, is cold, calculating yet still likable. She has the attributes being a winner, where Peeta has the grace to become an excellent loser.It's no accident why these games are presented as pop culture. Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV. Their State of Panem—which needs to help keep its tributaries subdued and its citizens complacent—may have came up with Games, but mindless television will be the real danger, the means by which society pacifies its citizens and punishes those that fail to conform. Will its connection to reality TV, ubiquitous today, date the book? It might, but for now, celebrate this the best book at the right time. What happens when we choose entertainment over humanity? In Collins's world, we'll be obsessed with grooming, we'll talk funny, and all sorts of our sentences can easily using the same rise as questions. When Katniss is distributed to stylists being made more telegenic before she competes, she stands naked facing them, strangely unembarrassed. They're so unlike people that i am you can forget self-conscious than if a trio of oddly colored birds were pecking around my feet, she thinks. In order to not hate these creatures who are sending her to her death, she imagines them as pets. It's not just the contestants who risk the loss of these humanity. It is all who watch. Katniss struggles to win not only the Games but the inherent contest for audience approval. Because this really is the first book in a series, not it is all totally resolved, and what exactly is left unanswered is the central question. Has she sacrificed too much? We understand what she's got given around survive, although not whether the price was too high. Readers will wait eagerly to understand more.
Megan Whalen Turner is the author from the Newbery Honor book The Thief and it is sequels, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia. The subsequent book within the series will likely be published by Greenwillow in 2010.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Grade 7 Up -In a not-too-distant future, the Usa of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to get replaced by Panem, a country divided to the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to be involved in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation from the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem because the 24 participants are made to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son in the town baker who seems to own all the fighting skills of an lump of bread dough, is planning to be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained because of this their whole lives. Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic because they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing. This book will surely resonate with the generation raised on reality shows like 'Survivor' and 'American Gladiator.' Book one of a planned trilogy.Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Hunger Games [Kindle Edition]