I have now read the first and second book in this series, and I found the storyline and writing of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins compelling and memorable. I thought the plot was gripping and unpredictable in a refreshing way (which is saying a lot). You would also expect our boy and girl to find true love in the end but that seems to be the complete opposite of the truth. Our protagonist is a cold and callus young woman with one true love, her sister. In fact, her sister is the reason this whole thing started.

In a postapocolyptic world, one of the ways the government keeps peace and obedience is by forcing the districts to sacrifice two children to be gladiators in their annual games. This act is supposed to remind the citizens of these 12 small cities (throughout what used to be the U.S.A.) that they are nothing.

District 12, a mining town where Katniss, her sister and mom live, is starving. Katniss learned from her father, before he died in the mines, how to hunt in the nearby forest, but hunting is illegal. This year Katniss’s sister’s name is called and Katniss volunteers in her place. Her skills with a bow and arrow may be her only chance of survival.

A boy Peeta, a baker’s son, joins her. After the required makeovers, interviews and a little training by their mentors, previous district winners, all 24 teenagers are released into an unnatural habitat for the country to watch as they battle to the death. Blood is what the Capitol wants and only allows one person to win. The winners get fame and fortune. But who will it be this year? Will it be Katniss? Peeta? or neither? What will be the cost to win? Will it be worth it? Is it possible to actually save her sister? Was volunteering the most selfless, selfish or just plain stupid thing to do?

Quite honestly, I dont even know the answer as the third and final book has yet to be released. If she continues to write as she has, and I hope that she will, I know that I am in for a surprise. The third book could really make or break this series, but if it manages to successfully tie all the ends together (according to the unconventional style presented in the first two books), it will be a great series. We shall see…

Kate

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
USA Today & NY Times Bestseller
(c) 2008, Scholastic Press
Publisher Reading Level: Young Adult
ISBN: 0439023483
384 Pages