The Hunger Games

Collins, Suzanne. 2008. The hunger games. Read by Carolyn McCormick. New York: Scholastic Audio Books. ISBN 9780545091022

Plot Summary

In Panem, a country in what remains of North America in the distant future, the Capitol is a place of luxury and indulgence, with a taste for blood sports. Twelve outlying districts supply the Capitol with goods and materials, while the district residents starve. In retribution for a past rebellion, each year a boy and a girl, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, from each district are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a nationally broadcast fight to the death, and only one teen will survive. 

Since her father died, sixteen year-old Katniss Everdeen has been sneaking outside the fence that surrounds her district in order to hunt and support her family. When Katniss’ little sister is called as a contestant, Katniss volunteers to take her place. Katniss’s hunting skills make her the first viable contestant from District 12 in decades. In the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta, the boy chosen from District 12, are billed as star-crossed lovers after Peeta admits his infatuation in an interview. In the arena, Katniss struggles with the certain knowledge that Peeta, like every other contestant, will try to kill her in order to survive. After all, the star-crossed love is just an act to attract sponsors and keep the audience interested, right?

Critical Analysis

“The games are so brutal and so real that it is impossible to stop reading until you know who wins the Hunger Games.” (Library Media Connection)

In this dystopian story, Katniss is an emotionally damaged hero fighting against the machinations of the extraordinarily cruel Capitol rulers. The residents of the districts are kept at the brink of starvation, too concerned with basic survival to consider another rebellion. The citizens of the Capitol, in contrast, live in a world of luxury and seem to have no concept of the human cost of their annual sporting event. “I know I’ll never marry, never risk bringing a child into the world. Because if there’s one thing being a victor doesn’t guarantee, it’s your children’s safety. My kids’ names would go right into the reaping balls with everyone else’s.” The hopelessness of the situation in the districts is excruciating. Only the actions of a select few characters hint at the possibility that a rebellion could be simmering beneath the surface. Katniss survives the games, and manages to save Peeta too, but she is still in danger at the end of the book.

“Carolyn McCormick ably voices the action-packed sequences and Katniss's every fear and strength shines through, along with her doomed growing attraction to one of her fellow Tributes.” (School Library Journal)

Review Citations

Cox Clark, Ruth. 2008. "The Hunger Games." Library Media Connection 27, no. 3: 77.

Osborne, Charli. 2009. "The Hunger Games." School Library Journal 55, no. 4: 58.