The Hunger Games

Suzanne Collins (author)

Scholastic, UK: 2008; 453pp

ISBN: 9781407109084

Genres: action, adventure, sci-fi

Issues: community, corruption, ethics, family, friendship, politics, sustainability

The first in a trilogy, The Hunger Games is a confronting dystopian novel that explores the harsh realities of a world where, in earlier decades, the human race nearly destroyed itself through war. In punishment for that treason, the government in the Capitol developed a barbaric and very public form of control called the Hunger Games. The rules? Simple: kill or be killed; last tribute standing wins.

Which means, of course, that it's quite possible that one tribute from a district may have to kill someone they grew up with. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that the entire Hunger Games is televised for the entertainment of the masses. It's government-approved murder, mayhem and psychological warfare - all from the comfort of your own living room.

Katniss Everdeen, sixteen years old, volunteers to take her younger sister's place when Prim's name is called. Katniss doesn't expect to come back but even before she reaches the Arena she discovers within herself a hard-headed survival streak about as wide as the Mississippi River; a stubborn refusal to be manipulated by those in power; a determination to live even the last days of her life on her own terms, especially if it will get her what she wants - the chance to go back home and take the boy from her district with her. It's against the rules but Katniss has never been all that good at obeying rules.

Suzanne Collins has created a world where reality TV rules the world - and the government controls what happens in all realities. Although thought-provoking, sensitive readers will find the violence, injustice and psychological game-playing quite disturbing.

Warning: deaths of major characters