Review:
While it was a little difficult to get past the whole "kids killing each other" thing, these books SUCKED ME IN. I was a little late on the draw in reading this series, but once I started, I devoured it. I ended up being extremely glad that I started in while on a road trip with my family, because I had countless hours of sitting in a car to devote to reading these books.
I will admit that I had a hard time with some of the names (the baker's son is named Peeta? Like "pita," GET IT? *groan*), and there were some aspects of the book that were a bit cliche, but Suzanne Collins has created a world that is equal parts fantastical and believable, and I can't deny that I was consistently itching to find out what would happen next. I found myself genuinely caring about each character in the book, even the smaller side characters, like Katniss' prep team, and the ones who irritated me (talkin' to you, Gale).
Another pull for this series is the ever-so-popular love triangle. If you're the kind of person who enjoys some good love-triangle tension, this may be a good series for you!
Questionable Themes:
Violence
Books Like The Hunger Games Series:The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Legend by Marie Lu
Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan
The Hunger Games
Year: 2008
Number of Pages: 384
Reading Level: 7th grade
Summary:
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
Catching Fire
Year: 2009
Number of Pages: 391
Reading Level: 7th grade
Summary:
Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol -- a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.
Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.
Mockingjay
Year: 2010
Number of Pages: 400
Reading Level: 7th grade
Summary:
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss' family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.
It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of hte shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- except Katniss.
The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss' willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay -- no matter what the personal cost.
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