New York Times bestseller The Hunger Games is the first book in a trilogy that includes Catching Fire and Mocking Jay. The young adult novels, written by Suzanne Collins and set in the fictitious nation of Panem, centre around teens pitted against one another in a deadly Reality TV show where only one winner is to rise triumphant.
“The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. (…) each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death." (The Hunger Games, p. 18)
The premise is not all that unique: we’ve seen schoolchildren chase and bludgeon one another on screen in classics such as Battle Royale, and Reality TV is full of media-made stars whose lives are fictionalized and destroyed for our amusement. What sets The Hunger Games apart is the two main characters: in contrast with Reality TV stars who form superficial alliances only to reveal their dark, corrupted nature by turning against one another whenever the opportunity arises, despite all their hardship, Katniss and Peeta remain true to themselves, and to each other.
Hunger Games Plot Synopsis
Clandestine huntress Katniss Everdeen and baker Peeta Mellark barely know each other when circumstances bring them together to represent District 12 in the annual Hunger Games. After being allowed only a brief moment to say goodbye to loved ones, the tributes are whisked off to the glitzy capital where they are to be prepped mentally and physically for the deadliest games of all.
Katniss and Peeta are clothed and fed and treated like royalty as they are transformed from nondescript, average teens from a poor community into media darlings, helped by the team of stylists and coaches who have been assigned to them. Shallow, superficial Effie Trinket acts as chaperone while the caring Cinna adorns Katniss and Peeta with perfect hair, make-up and fashions, and former District 12 tribute and Hunger Games winner Haymitch Abernathy coaches them on the ins and outs of the games and attempts to make the pair more attractive to potential sponsors. These sponsors – wealthy benefactors willing to supply increasingly costly gifts ranging from food to medicine – will, in the end, mark the difference between life and death for Katniss and Peeta.
Watch The Hunger Games in Movie Theatres
The popular first book of The Hunger Games trilogy is currently in production, and scheduled to be released in March of 2012. Directed by Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville,) the film stars Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class) as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) as Peeta Mellark, and Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, the stylist who designs Katniss and Peeta’s on-screen personas and sets their audiences’ hearts on fire.
While Lawrence and Hutcherson have proven themselves to be promising young actors and should be more than able to hold their own as media darlings Katniss and Peeta, the stroke of genius comes in the casting of Woody Harrelson ( Zombieland) as former tribute Haymitch Abernathy. Harrelson brings more than enough swagger to the screen to simultaneously charm and repulse audiences as the bitter drunk who holds Katniss and Peeta’s future in his hands, and is bound to steal the show.
Enjoy The Hunger Games Onscreen and Off
- The Hunger Games, the movie, is scheduled to be released in theatres March 23, 2012.
- The Hunger Games, the book, is now available online and in bookstores.
Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 9781407109084
Sources
- To find out more about author Suzanne Collins and the Hunger Games Trilogy, go to the official Suzanne Collins website.
- To learn more about The Hunger Games and other great young adult novels, visit the Scholastic website.
- For more information about the film and to see The Hunger Games movie trailer, visit the official movie website.
Andree Lachapelle - Andrée reviews books, movies and local events, and brings you essential beauty, fashion, travel and wedding planning tips.
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