The Mockingjay

The Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

This was a great ending to this trilogy. The suspense and action was kept up throughout the entire series. The ending was "as it should be" I think.

One of the things I liked best was that by writing through the voice of Catniss, the whole series had a whirlwind feel to it. Just like it would feel for a 17 year old to be ripped from her reality and thrust into all these varied experiences against her will. Also, in losing the closeness she shared with Gale, she lost her grounding wire so she was feeling completely isolated and alone.

This would be a great series to begin discussions of government, types of government and their role in the lives of the people as well as a discussion of the responsibility of the people when the government is not acting on their best interest. A very fun and fast read.

Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The sequel to The Hunger Games did not disappoint.
The only annoyance was that I had to keep reminding myself that Catniss is only 17. She is so annoyingly frustrating with her emotional immaturity that I wanted to smack her. It's really quite accurate though, when I compare her to other teen girls I know.
The suspense that began in the first book was well kept into the second even though this second book doesn't have the action of the actual Hunger Games.
Starting the third book immediately.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This is the first book of a trilogy. My library has it tagged as Young Adult Fiction which means that everyone from about 14 on up reads it. It's pretty dark, though, for young adult fiction.

The setting is post-apocalyptic North America. The country is now called Panem and it is controlled by the people and government in the city called The Capitol. Everywhere else is separated into Districts. There were 13 Districts but after an attempted uprising, The Capitol destroyed District 13 and subdued all others.

Since the uprising, The Capitol has forced the Districts to celebrate a "holiday" called The Reaping. This is where all children between 12 and 18 have their names put into a pool (one for boys and one for girls). The children can add their names extra times in trade for food and fuel for their families during the year. This means poor kids are more likely to have their names drawn than the wealthy. The name of one girl and one boy is drawn from each district.

These children are sent to The Capitol and then to an Arena (newly built each year) where they fight all the other children drawn in The Reaping in what is called The Hunger Games. This is a fight to the death. The last one standing wins and The Capitol showers them, their family and their District with wealth, food and fuel for the next year. The winner and their family are given a house in the wealthy neighborhood of their district for life.

The Hunger Games is told by a girl named Katniss who has supported herself, her mother and sister with her hunting skills since her father was killed in a mining accident. She is from District 12 which is the poorest of the Districts and she comes from the poorest area of the District.

It was an interesting story and well written enough that I'm planning to read the other two books. It's pretty dark since it is about government mandated murder of children murdering children. It would be a good book to read with a tween or teen to spark discussions of government and different types of government.

Also, the idea that the people of The Capitol being glued to their television screens during "The Game" to catch every minute of the horror is pretty disturbing. To them, the children are just Tributes and somehow they have lost sight of the humanity of each child and the horrible fact that they must kill to survive as mandated by law. The people of the Districts watch hopefully for the Tributes from their District but really only watch because they are required by law. Anyone found in their house and not watching is put to death. It makes one wonder how such a power as The Capitol could truly be defeated and whether the people there could be made to see how inhuman they have been.

It only took me a little over a day to read the book. It's not long and, because it is young adult fiction, it is written with simpler vocabulary and syntax so it's a pretty fast read.