The Hunger Games

Near the end of the summer, I was babysitting for four kids between the ages of 2 and 12. It was a stressful night, but after all the younger kids were asleep, I asked the oldest daughter what she was doing on the computer.

"Summer Reading! I'm doing a project on this book I read called The Hunger Games! Have you heard of them? You have to read it! It's set in the future and all these kids have to go battle as slaves and fight to the death! I'm almost done with the second book! ", she exclaimed.

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I don't usually like getting my book recommendations from 5th graders, but I decided to make an exception with this one. Luckily, my roommate had the books at home and brought them to me the first weekend in September. A month later, I'm finished with all three books totalling over 1,000 pages. The Hunger Games, Chasing Fire and Mockingjay are about Katniss Everdeen, a strong young woman in a 22nd century North America. The United States no longer exist, instead, the Capitol is in control and the twelve surrounding districts live mainly to continue the lifestyles of the residents of the Capitol. The Hunger Games occur for their enjoyment, selecting 2 tributes from each district to train, and fight to the death in a manipulated environment. Only one tribute can be the champion, then Katniss kicks ass and starts a rebellion that spreads throughout the Districts.

Fear, suspense, rebellion. I loved these books. They made me question, Where is our society going? If I was faced with death, would I fight it? Still, they're books created for Young Adults, so nothing was super risque. It's more psychologically scary than anything and the older you get, the more it hits you. Anyone with an imagination would love this book.

A movie based on the first book premieres in March. I won't be here to see it, hopefully they'll have it playing in Rome, home of the original "fight to the death" Gladiators. That'd be so cool!!

may the odds be ever in your favor.