BACKGROUND:
In this gripping young adult novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present, the nation of Panem consists of a shining Capitol surrounded by 12 outlying Districts, in the ruins of an area once known as North America. In this stratified society where the Capitol controls all resources, 16 year old Katniss and her friend Gale forage for food in the wood surrounding their impoverished District. The main support for both families, Katniss and Gale are apprehensive about the approaching annual Reaping, when two "tributes" between the ages of 12 and 18 will be chosen by the lottery from each of the 12 districts to compete in The Hunger Games, a survival contest on live TV in which teenagers fight to the death.
When her beloved younger sister Prim is chosen as one of the "tributes", Katniss volunteers to go in her sister's place. Her fellow tribute from District 12 is Peeta, a boy with whom she soon develops a complicated relationship. After traveling to the Capitol and undergoing elaborate training and preparation, Katniss and Peeta are launched into the Game. In the terrifying events that follow, Katniss must marshal all her skills to stay alive and all her emotions to remain a caring human being in the face of the stark brutality of the Games.
"It's hard to choose one element that inspired The Hunger Games," says Suzanne Collins. "Probably the forst seeds were plantes when, as an eight-year-old with a mythology obsession, I read the story of Theseus. The myth told the story how in punishment for past deeds, Athens periodically had to send seven youths and seven maidens to Crete, where they were thrown into the Labyrinth and devoured by the monstrous Minotaur. Evan as a third grader, I could appreciate the ruthlessness of this message. 'Mess with us and we'll do something worse that kill you. Wr'll kill your children.'
"Other early influences would have to include watching too many gladiator movies, which dramatize the Roman's flair for turning executions into popular entertainment; my military specialist dad who took us to battlefield for family vacations; and touring with a sword fighting company in high school. But it wasn't until the much more recent experience of channel surfing between reality TV programming and actual war coverage that the story for this series came to me."
(Discussion Guide material)
YOUR TASKS!
1) Read the book - enjoy. (I bet you won't be able to put it down).
2) Open a Google Doc, share with me and do some searching on the web about this book. Link anything you find, or write a synopsis, add pictures and so on. Gather as much data about the book, author, plot, themes as you can.
3) Be prepared to share your findings in the near future!
