ISBN:9780545310581
Pages:374 p.
Genre:Science fiction,First person narratives, Books to movies
Interest Level: 5-12
Reading Level: 5.0
Subjects:Survival,Contests,Dystopias,Television programs,Competition,Sixteen-year-old girls,Interpersonal relations,Sisters,Teenage boy/girl relations
Annotation: In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place. (Novelist)
Summary: If there really are only seven original plots in the world, it's odd that “boy meets girl” is always mentioned, and “society goes bad and attacks the good guy” never is. Yet we have Fahrenheit 451 , The Giver , The House of the Scorpion —and now, following a long tradition of Brave New Worlds, The HungerGames . 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 where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.Katniss, from what was once Appalachia, offers to take the place of her sister in the HungerGames, but after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances. It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likable. She has the attributes to be a winner, where Peeta has the grace to be a good loser.It's no accident that these games are presented as pop culture. Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV. The State of Panem—which needs to keep its tributaries subdued and its citizens complacent—may have created the Games, but mindless television is the real danger, the means by which society pacifies its citizens and punishes those who fail to conform. Will its connection to reality TV, ubiquitous today, date the book? It might, but for now, it makes this the right book at the right time. What happens if we choose entertainment over humanity? In Collins's world, we'll be obsessed with grooming, we'll talk funny, and all our sentences will end with the same rise as questions. When Katniss is sent to stylists to be made more telegenic before she competes, she stands naked in front of them, strangely unembarrassed. “They're so unlike people that I'm no more self-conscious than if a trio of oddly colored birds were pecking around my feet,” she thinks. In order not to hate these creatures who are sending her to her death, she imagines them as pets. It isn't just the contestants who risk the loss of their humanity. It is all who watch.Katniss struggles to win not only the Games but the inherent contest for audience approval. Because this is the first book in a series, not everything is resolved, and what is left unanswered is the central question. Has she sacrificed too much? We know what she has given up to survive, but not whether the price was too high. Readers will wait eagerly to learn more.Megan Whalen Turner is the author of the Newbery Honor book The Thief and its sequels, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia. The next book in the series will be published by Greenwillow in 2010. --Staff (Reviewed November 3, 2008) (Publishers Weekly, vol 255, issue 44, p58)
Reviews and Awards:Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award ALA Notable Children's Books - Older Readers Category: 2009 Amelia Bloomer Lists - Young Adult Fiction: 2009 Beehive Awards (Utah): Young Adult Books BILBY - Books I Love Best Yearly (Australia) : Older Reader Black-Eyed Susan Book Awards (Maryland): High School Blue Hen Book Award (Delaware): Teen Book Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Older Readers Category: 2008 California Young Reader Medal: Young Adult Charlotte Award (New York): Young Adult (Grades 6-12) Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (Rosie Award) Garden State Teen Book Awards (New Jersey): Fiction (Grades 9-12) Gateway Readers Award (Missouri) Georgia Children's Book Award: Children's Book Award Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers Golden Archer Awards (Wisconsin): Middle/Jr. High School Golden Sower Awards (Nebraska): Young Adult (Grades 6-9) Grand Canyon Reader Award (Arizona): Tween Book Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature (1996-2010) Iowa High School Book Award Isinglass Teen Read Award (New Hampshire) Kentucky Bluegrass Award: Grades 9-12 Land of Enchantment Book Award (New Mexico): Young Adult category Maine Student Book Award New York Times Notable Books - Children's Books: 2008 Nutmeg Children's Book Award (Connecticut): Teen category Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards: Young Adult Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Choice Book Award (Illinois) Rhode Island Teen Book Award Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award - Best Mainstream: 2008 School Library Journal Best Books: 2008 Sequoyah Book Awards (Oklahoma): High School Books Sequoyah Book Awards (Oklahoma): Intermediate Books Soaring Eagle Book Award (Wyoming) South Carolina Book Awards: Junior Books South Carolina Book Awards: Young Adult Books Teen Buckeye Book Award (Ohio) Texas Lone Star Reading Lists: 2009 Texas Tayshas Reading Lists: 2009 Thumbs Up! Award (Michigan) Truman Readers Award (Missouri) Virginia Readers' Choice Award: High School (Grades 10-12) WAYRBA - Western Australian Young Readers' Book Awards : Older Readers YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2009 YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: What if ... (2011) YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2009 Young Reader's Choice Award (Pacific Northwest): Senior
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