www.thehungergamesisnotnecessarilyaboutfood.com

One and a half days was all it took for me to finish my next book.  Yes, it was an easy read, but mainly it was because I couldn’t put it down!  The fourth book in my challenge was “the Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins.  Working at the library, the book kept passing through and I thought- it must be good!  If all the kids are reading it, I better get up on my game, yo!  (No, I don’t really talk like that.  Most of the time anyways.)   I like to be able to relate to my student workers, and throw out questions when I interview people like, if you had to choose, would you be Team Edward or Team Jacob, and then always tell them they chose wrong. 

“The Hunger Games” is a young adult (ahem, don’t say it…) novel about a sixteen year old girl alive in post-apocalyptic North America.  There are 12 (mainly poor) districts around a cruel and rich capitol, who keeps revolts at bay by the hunger games.  Every year, a lottery is used to choose one boy and one girl from each district to come together and fight to the death. 

Now, Mandy would tell you that I am obsessed with Nazis.  (Don’t worry, there is a logical progression here- go with me.)  It’s true that my concentration in my history degree from college was in WWII, and Nazism, but it is not because I am (as Mark calls me) “Cruel Jewel.”  The truth is that violence and war, and how people react in and to it, fascinates me.  What happens to a community when war is around them, and what happens to a child when they grow up seeing it everyday, thinking it is normal?  There is a book that was part of my reading for a class called “Neighbors” by Jan Gross, and it examines the role of the Polish people who murdered their neighbors when given the opportunity (terrible summation- you should read it sometime though if you can stomach it).  Throughout history lessons, the Germans have been blamed for the extermination of millions of Jews in WWII, but Gross discusses the roles of neighbors who killed also.  Where does the blame of violence lay?  Is it in the hands of people who actually murder, or also the people who watch and do nothing? 

The reason I discuss this is that one description of “the Hunger Games” briefly mentioned Suzanne Collins’ focus on war and violence, the effect on children, and a small comparison to Nazism.  The book is for young adults but it does explore these ideas in a mature way, and makes you question what you want the main character to do.  Do you want her to kill her fellow competitors?  Is it okay when it is the only way for her to survive?  Would you have survived the hunger games?

I know I would not have survived.  Mainly because I can’t run for more than about a minute before giving up.  But also because I have never seen any side of me that could fight like that.  Sometimes I wonder what young people joining the military feel about that.  Do they realize that they may have to kill someone to save their own life?  I can’t imagine.  So, yes, I highly recommend this book.  I am anxiously awaiting my copy of the second of the series.  And yes, Mandy, you knew I would have to talk about Nazis sooner or later!