The Hunger Games had been on my reserve list at the library for several weeks before it finally came. It was worth the wait. I would not classify myself as being a lover of sci-fi or fantasy, but I really liked this book. In this book 24 teens are forced to compete to the death for the entertainment of the capital city. It follows one girl in particular and her experiences within the game. While one might think the book would be overly violent it isn’t, and focuses more on relationships and human nature than the killing of other people. I wish that in addition to the perspective of the girl we also got more information about how the citizens watching the games reacted. It can be seen as commenting on what our society views as “entertainment.” The characters were interesting and easy to relate to. I didn’t know while reading that there is a second book coming out, but by the end I definitely wanted to read more. (The sequel is set to release September 1, 2009)
This book could be used in a classroom. I would say that it is appropriate for grades 8-10 based off of reading level. But could be used for older grades as well, and for some 6th/7th graders depending on their maturity. I believe this book would appeal to both male and female students even with a female protagonist.
AWARDS:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY’S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: CHILDREN’S FICTION
NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE CHILDREN’S BOOK OF 2008
AN AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION TOP TEN BEST BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS SELECTION
AN ALA NOTABLE CHILDREN’S BOOK
#1 ON CHILDREN’S INDIE NEXT LIST
KIRKUS REVIEWS EDITOR’S CHOICE, 2008
A HORN BOOK FANFARE
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOKS Of 2008
A BOOKLIST EDITORS’ CHOICE
LA TIMES FAVORITE CHILDREN’S BOOKS, 2008
BARNES & NOBLE BEST BOOKS OF 2008 FOR TEENS AND KIDS
BORDERS BEST BOOKS OF 2008: TEENS
AMAZON BEST BOOKS OF 2008:
TOP 100 EDITORS’ PICK
TOP 10 BOOKS: TEENS
Filed under: ALA Awards, Classroom Read, First Love/Crushes, Individual Read, Science-Fiction/Fantasy, Teen Boys, Teen Girls, YALSA Awards | Tagged: Suzanne Collins, YA Literature, YALSA, Young Adult
Good review. I pretty much agree with all you stated. I didn’t start out loving it, but ended up riveted.
This is a good book and opens itself to all sorts of lively discussions with student. A number of our students are interested in stories about possible futures/dystopias and also liked The Declaration (Malley), Skinned (Wasserman) and Incognito (Carmichael) to name a few. The future is something they all have opinions on