the Hunger Games trilogy

I can no longer avoid it.  I have to talk about the Hunger Games trilogy.

As I admitted earlier, I am a book snob.  As a result, I used to vehemently refuse to read any book that was the latest craze.  I even denied Harry Potter until I took a Children's Lit class which required us to read the first novel (I quickly and immediately devoured the second one and have read all of them probably 10 times each now).  Recently, I've taken a different approach and I choose to read these books - but I approach them with a bias, reading them more out of curiosity and the desire to be able to discuss the books rather than thinking they will be masterpieces.  I'm always pleasantly surprised when these crazes end up impressing me.  Hunger Games was one of those.

For months, people told me I should read them.  For some reason, I refused.  Until one day, a male friend of mine - one who still surprises me when he talks about books - walked up to me right before Christmas break, placed the first book in my hand, and said, "Seriously.  Read this."  I couldn't ignore this recommendation and it came at the perfect time, right at a break.  So I read it.

24 hours later, I purchased the second book on my kindle.

24 hours later, I purchased the third book on my kindle.

I thought the trilogy was fantastic, especially Catching Fire (the second one).  I enjoyed how the author, Suzanne Collins, kept the main character, Katniss, true to her age, making her flawed and confused.  At the same time, she tackled a difficult subject of repression and rebellion, set in a futuristic time.  The series takes place somewhere in America, though it is never directly stated, in the future.  Only 12 districts still exist and they are controlled by the Capitol.  In the past, the districts tried to rebel against the Capitol.  As a reminder of this, every year the Capitol hosts the "Hunger Games," where each district has to choose one boy and one girl, between the ages of 12-18, to enter the games, where they must fight to their death until there is one winner.  The games take place in an arena built by the technologically advanced and cruel-minded people of the Capitol.

To me, the movie helped me better understand that part - the idea of people controlling the arena and what happens inside of it.... kind of like the Harry Potter movies helped me visualize Quidditch.

But I digress.  Although it may not be the best written work of all time, I loved it.  I decided to teach it to my sophomores this year, and it became one of my favorite books to read.  I only taught the first one, and almost every student finished the series.  Then, at parent teacher conferences, numerous parents told me they decided to read it too, after hearing their children talk about it.  There's no greater pleasure to an English teacher's ears!