by Nicholas Casarez| Staff writer
This spring will bring about the movie debut of the highly touted Hunger Games movie. Buzz for the film has resulted in an absolute explosion of book sales for author Suzanne Collins. The trilogy has gone from a series with relative obscurity to sweeping the top three spots in the USA best-seller list with each book having at least a week in the top spot. The series’ new widespread fame isn’t unwarranted, though. The books are well put together and Collins proves herself to be extremely adept at keeping the reader interested and creating an interesting plot with a nice balance of action, drama, and love.
The story is set in a futuristic world, where the nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts, with the Capitol in the center. Every year, the Capitol holds a gruesome competition called the Hunger Games. Each district must send two kids, one male and one female, to compete in a fight to the death. Even though the winner is treated like a celebrity, the event is one big display of power by the Capitol. It’s their way of showing that they are in control of Panem.
The main character is Katniss Everdeen, a citizen of District 12, (which is the coal mining district), and her family isn’t exactly upper class. She is forced to volunteer to partake in the Games when her younger and innocent sister is chosen. Her and a baker’s son named Peeta Mellark, will be 12’s two competitors. Before the Games, the two are forced to go through training, interviews, and other grueling tasks, which they surprisingly excel at thanks to their mentor, and former Hunger Games winner, Haymitch Abernathy. However, once the games commence, they’re all on their own.
Go out and buy this entertaining book to find out how it ends. You won’t regret it, and once you open it up, good luck putting it down. It’s definitely worth your time and money.
The sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay continue along this fantastic story and follow the adventures and perils of young Katniss and her war against the Capitol. It’s a thrilling trilogy that has some real potential to be great and make itself a place with some other big name series like Twilight or The Lightning Thief. It’s no Harry Potter, but Suzanne Collins certainly created a phenomenon with these masterfully written novels.
