After reading a couple of "have-to" books, I was hungry (get it?) for a just-for-fun good book. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, fit the bill perfectly. It encompassed a cautionary tale along with a romance, adventure, a suspenseful conflict, and plenty to think about along the way.The story takes place in a country that used to be the United States, which is now divided into twelve "districts" ruled by the Capitol. In punishment for the attempted rebellion of the twelve districts, the Capitol enforces an annual "Survivor"-like competition in which a boy and girl representative from each distrist must meet and fight to the death. 17-year-old Katniss is a hunter, responsible for putting food on her family's table since her father's death in the coal mines six years ago. Two names are drawn from a large ball to determine the district's representatives, and when Katniss' 12-year-old sister's name is drawn, Katniss rushes forward to volunteer in her place. Peeta, the son of a baker whom Katniss knew from school -- and also from an incident when he saved her from starving -- is the designated boy. They are whisked off to the Capitol to prepare for the Games. Soon the 24 competitors are locked into the "arena," which this year includes a forest with a stream, a lake, a grassland, and a large open meadow. All her life Katniss has been forced to watch the Games, and she knows some of the strategies that have helped former competitors survive. But she, and all the competitors, are at the mercy of the all-seeing Capitol, which has cameras stashed everywhere, and which can manipulate the weather inside the arena, can introduce natural disasters, predatory creatures, and other things to force the competitors to come together for battle -- for the sheer entertainment of the "viewers at home." I really got into this story, and saw many parallels with today's reality TV "entertainment." The environmental situation which brought the country to the conditions described in Hunger Games are reflected in almost every disastrous prediction you read in today's paper. So -- this COULD happen. And what would you or I do to survive, if this all came to pass?
I highly recommend this book, and give it 4 out of 4 stars!
