I’d heard a story on NPR about this book a couple of months ago. It was intriguing enough for me to look it up and put it on hold at the library. I was not the only one to do that of course so I was pretty far down the list. It finally showed up for me last week.
It takes place in the indeterminate future. The country is divided into 12 districts with a Big Brother like feel to the authorities and central government. It centers on Katniss, a girl in her early teens that is forced to take care of her mother and sister after her father is killed in a mining accident. She learns to hunt and trade and scavenge. Then the reaping arrives. Each year the districts draw the name of one boy and one girl to participate in the Hunger Games, a fight to the death. The winner is the last child alive in the arena and gets prizes for life. A house, money, fame, etc. The children unfortunate enough to be chosen are called tributes. Katniss and a boy named Peeta become the tributes from District 12.
The bulk of the book is about the Games. It is a very quick read, well written, interesting, intriguing. It did remind me of the Grounding of Group Six (which I’m getting ready to reread) in the sense that it involves children in very dire circumstances.
I really enjoyed this book. Read it in about 2 days with a bunch of previous commitments in my way. I don’t recommend this for very young readers. The death and general depressive tones of the book may be a little much.
But I did enjoy it and have placed the second one on hold at the library. Can’t wait to get to the top of the list. And I just read that the third one will be out this summer.
As for books from the library, not too many changes:
Shelf discovery : teen classics we never stopped reading Skurnick, Lizzie
Summer of my German soldier Greene, Bette
The secret garden Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Harriet, the spy Fitzhugh, Louise
The grounding of Group 6 Thompson, Julian F
Janet Evanovich’s how I write : secrets of a bestselling author Evanovich, Janet.
A single eye Dunlap, Susan
The lost city of Z : a tale of deadly obsession in the Amazon Grann, David.
The girl who played with fire Larsson, Stieg
Hollywood Station : a novel Wambaugh, Joseph.
Guilty pleasures Hamilton, Laurell K.
Oh my. This is going on my list.