Hunger Games FEVER

I've been pushing Hunger Games on reluctant readers for several years, so although I was not happy with the actor choices for the movie, after seeing this trailer, I can't resist - I'm not a Twihard, but I now have Hunger Games Fever - may even be caught camped out in the movie line.

Release date: March 23, 2012

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Title:  Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press (August 24, 2010)
Genre: dystopian, science fiction, action, romance, political
Rating: 5 out of 5

My thoughts: 
    The "much-awaited" book three of the Hunger Games trilogy sounds  so cliche, but I really was waiting for this book with bated breath. Even more of a cliffhanger than Vladimir Tod: Eleventh Grade Burns, Catching Fire was one of those books where I wanted to kick myself for reading it without waiting for the last book to come out.
     In this last book, when we see Katniss, she is making sense of her sudden rescue from her second Hunger Games, and she must face the fact that with the Capitol's destruction of district 12, the rebellion that she seems to have sparked in the districts will be calling on her to lead even if she just wants to take care of herself and protect those that she loves.
     It's easy to forget how young Katniss is when everyone expects her to be politically saavy and stable. I actually like when her insecurities and selfishness come out.
     I think some people won't enjoy this book because the ending is not as satisfying or as tidy as some people want it to be. Katniss will lose people that she loves. She will be betrayed, and she will be abandoned. Does she finally make a choice between Peeta and Gale? The choice is made. In the end, I'm glad that things don't end as happily as it could have. I like that Collins sacrfices some characters that are highly loved. That's what makes this so good.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
This is not a new story - we've seen this type of dystopia before. In fact it's like Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" combined with Stephen King's The Running Man, except that you have a strong, likable 16 year old girl as the protagonist (Katniss), who even at her most ruthless, is still a sympathetic character, as well as a small little love story amidst the violence of the Hunger Games - where 24 teens enter the arena and gladiator style, only one can exit alive. The hidden cameras follow the teens as they hide, try to survive and even kill each other off for the ultimate prize of returning home to a life of luxury and ease.

Katniss lives in a postapocalyptic world where the Capitol, now the rulers of what once was 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, volunteers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games. Her teammate, and fellow competitor, Peeta, is the character that brings humanity to this book, whereas Katniss, as a poacher and sole food provider for her family, possesses the cold, calculating skill to survive. It's a credit to the author that although Katniss manipulates the game to her advantage, she is still the kind of character that we want to root for and support. Although she doesn't always know her heart, I had faith that she would do the humane thing for Peeta, and for the most part, she did.

The sequel, Catching Fire, will be out in September.