The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Plot Summary:

             Set in a futuristic North America where the U.S. once existed, we meet Katiness, a tough girl who hunts to help her family make ends meet. The country is divided into districts surrounding a Capital. At one point in the past all of the districts rose up against the Capital in a revolution and lost. As punishment, each year a girl and boy are chosen from each district to participate in The Hunger Games and fight to the death. Of course, Katiness’s little sister is chosen to go. Katiness volunteers to go in her place, so she and Peeta, the boy champion from her district head to the capital.

            The champions are flaunted and observed for a while before the business of the competition itself is gotten down to. Katiness and Peeta are to be trained by the last champion from their district, who is an old drunk, and not as helpful as they would like. Finally tournament day arrives and the race is on. Katiness makes friends with a little girl named Rue, who reminds her of her sister and gets killed by a stronger boy. Katiness kills him with her bow and arrow, her weapon of choice. She hides out in a tree, drops a futuristic wasp’s nest on her opponents, and discoverers Peeta hiding. A romance blossoms between the two of them, but only one can win the competition. In the end, she and Peeta are the last men standing and threaten to both eat poison berries (and ruin the competition for there would be no champion), forcing the Capital to acquiesce and let them both win.

Personal Reaction:

            This is one of my favorite books of all time. The action is awesome, and Collins inspires great feelings of loyalty toward the characters. We are loyal to Katiness, yes, but also Peeta, and Katiness’s childhood friend, Gale. The scene where Katiness is hiding in the tree always reminded me (before I read them again), of the scene in Huckleberry Finn when he is loading the canoe after escaping his father. In addition, I love the part where Rue dies and Katiness give her “funeral rites” as an act of defiance against the Capital. Collins uses suspense so well in this book that we do not even have an option of reading the next one, and this is added to by the cliffhanger ending.

Collins, S. (2008). The hunger games. New York: Scholastic Press.