The Hunger Games: The Ultimate in Reality TV

 

http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Suzanne-Collins/dp/0439023521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302648066&sr=1-1

Collins, S. (2010). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press.

I considered skipping work to stay home and finish this book!!  I read two hundred pages in my first sitting and the second night, after finishing the book at 9:15pm, I seriously considered driving over to the 24-hour Wal-Mart to buy book #2.  That’s how much I enjoyed Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.

Our protagonist, Katniss is a responsible, admirable heroin.  At age 12, she takes over as her family's primary care-taker after the sudden death of her father and her mother's subsequent depression and mental breakdown.  Katniss slowly nurses her mother back to a more stable state but her relationship with her has been irrevocably damaged.  Katniss' ultimate goal is to love and protect Prim, her innocent younger sister from the harsh reality of Panem.  The heart-felt, authentic relationships and the mental images Collins' paints for the reader contribute to the level of audience engagement in story.  The external conflicts she experiences – with Panem, the government, society, authority, The Hunger Games, etc. and her internal conflict – feelings about her mother, herself, her overall emotions, and the boys that are coming into her life, are just some of the compelling story lines that got me so engrossed in this book.

In connecting The Hunger Games to other pieces the students are most assuredly familiar with, the website www.myhungergames.com offers some interesting parallels between our protagonist and Twilight’s Bella and her angst-filled internal conflict about Edward and Jacob.  Katniss experiences a similar conflict with Gale and Peeta.

I find the target audience, ages 12 and up (810L, courtesy of http://www.lexile.com/) to be reasonable as Collins' writing isn't overly verbose and although the overarching concept of The Hunger Games may be difficult to connect to, I think that most readers would understand that the book is very purposefully based in fantasy.  I really enjoy the imagery and purposeful description the author uses to help the reader visualize some of the details, such as the flaming costumes, the cornucopia that contains all the competitor's supplies, and especially the feelings, reactions, and emotions Katniss is experiencing throughout the games.

James’ Dashner’s Maze Runner trilogy appears to offer a comparable concept to a similar target audience (http://www.jamesdashner.com/).  What’s interesting about this series, and potentially useful to me in my classroom is that at least the first book of the series, Maze Runner, is rated as a HL770L, which according to Lexile.com indicates a “High-Low” book, which is designed specifically to match older reluctant or struggling readers (grade 7 and above) with age-appropriate topics and issues but are written at a more elementary reading  levels.

Cassandra Clare’s series The Mortal Instruments (http://www.mortalinstruments.com/books.php) contains titles such as “City of Bones,” “City of Ashes,” “City of Glass,” which remind me of the various products and economies of the twelve districts of Panem.  According to Lexile.com, they’re suited for a slightly older audience – ages 14-17, but with a lower lexile, between 720L and 760L depending on the book.  To me, this would suggest a difference between the actual readability of the text and the content of the story (more adult material perhaps).

Unfortunately, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, books 2 and 3 respectively in the Hunger Games series, are not yet available in paperback and I’m currently 46^th in the waiting queue at my local library system, so I think you might be fairly likely to find me hunkered down at Barnes & Noble with a couple large lattes for four to six hours in the very near future. Good Call Dr. Bull!