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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

This gripping novel is set in the future, in a time when North America is called Panem. The country has been divided into twelve districts, each with a special function. Katniss is a sixteen-year-old girl from District 12, the poorest area. Since her father died in a coal mining accident, it has fallen on her to provide for her family, which she does by crossing a fence into an off-limits area to hunt small game and gather edible plants. There’s a tradition in Panem: Each year two teens between the ages of twelve and eighteen are selected by a lottery system to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised reality show in which contestants must not only survive in the wild but fight to the death. Katniss is one of the “tributes” from District 12, and the survival skills she has developed will serve her well in the competition. But will she have the heart to kill the other contestants? This first volume in a trilogy that promises intense emotion and fast-paced action probes the realities of a corrupt political system built on secrecy and fear, the ethics of reality television and blood sports, and the lengths human beings will go to in order to survive. (Age 12 and older)

CCBC Choices 2009 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2009. Used with permission.

From Kirkus

Starred review from November 1, 2024
Once more into the fray...but with pictures! Readers are invited to revisit Panem, a fascist country "that rose up out of the ashes of a place that was once called North America" and is run by an elderly totalitarian dictator. The harmful, long-reaching influence of reality television is on full display in this excellent read that remains as relevant to modern audiences as when the novel was originally published in 2008. While Katniss Everdeen, the selfless and determined young hero from a region that's strongly reminiscent of Appalachia, is the star of that world, the star of this edition is Delort, whose scratchboard art deftly imagines memorable scenes throughout the story while avoiding influences from the film series. These illustrations are new and wholly themselves, and the book's large format shows them off to great advantage. The black-and-white art brings a hefty weight to the poverty and despair of District 12, the poorest sector of Panem, while at the same time capturing the affected excesses of the Capitol and its citizens. Delort's talent is fully evident when capturing Katniss in her fire-tinged dress; readers will be able to feel the heat thanks to the dazzling interplay of positive and negative space. Fans of Barry Moser, take note: There's a new tribute in town. Vivid and well worth a look from new and returning fans alike.(Dystopian. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Horn Book

January 1, 2009
Katniss volunteers to represent her district in the Hunger Games, a compulsory, government-sponsored reality-TV show from which only one of twenty-four teenage contestants will emerge alive. A fierce, resourceful competitor, Katniss also displays great compassion and vulnerability. The twists and turns are addictive in this compulsively readable blend of science fiction, romance, and social commentary.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Library Journal

December 9, 2008
In a far-future United States, a cruel Capitol keeps order by demanding an annual tribute for its Hunger Games, in which two contestants, a boy and a girl, are chosen by lottery from each of 12 districts to fight to the death in an event televised from an arena. Katniss Everdeen lives in what used to be Appalachia and is now called the Seam-a dirt-poor district without much hope of success in the games. Katniss volunteers in her sister's place and may just have the smarts to win. Then Peeta, the soft baker's son chosen from her same district, does something surprising. He declares his undying affection for Katniss just before they enter the arena. Is there room for friendship, loyalty, or even love when survival is on the line? Why It Is a Best: Collins's prose is merely serviceable, but she writes compelling characters and spins one terrific yarn. The premise is good to begin with, and the surprises keep coming. Why It Is for Us: In this fight to the death, the book's violence is cringe-worthy byeven the most jaded standards. The exploitation of the desperate and impoverished for the entertainment of the wealthy and powerful is a theme reminiscent of Stephen King's The Long Walk or The Running Man. King himself makes the comparison in his Entertainment Weekly review of the book, saying "I couldn't stop reading."-Angelina Benedetti, King Cty. Lib. Syst., WA

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from November 3, 2008
Signature

Reviewed by
Megan Whalen Turner
If there really are only seven original plots in the world, it's odd that "boy meets girl" is always mentioned, and "society goes bad and attacks the good guy" never is. Yet we have Fahrenheit 451
, The Giver
, The House of the Scorpion
-and now, following a long tradition of Brave New Worlds, The Hunger Games
.
Collins hasn't tied her future to a specific date, or weighted it down with too much finger wagging. Rather less 1984
and rather more Death Race 2000
, hers is a gripping story set in a postapocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.
Katniss, from what was once Appalachia, offers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, but after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances. It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likable. She has the attributes to be a winner, where Peeta has the grace to be a good loser.
It's no accident that these games are presented as pop culture. Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV. The State of Panem-which needs to keep its tributaries subdued and its citizens complacent-may have created the Games, but mindless television is the real danger, the means by which society pacifies its citizens and punishes those who fail to conform. Will its connection to reality TV, ubiquitous today, date the book? It might, but for now, it makes this the right book at the right time.
What happens if we choose entertainment over humanity? In Collins's world, we'll be obsessed with grooming, we'll talk funny, and all our sentences will end with the same rise as questions. When Katniss is sent to stylists to be made more telegenic before she competes, she stands naked in front of them, strangely unembarrassed. "They're so unlike people that I'm no more self-conscious than if a trio of oddly colored birds were pecking around my feet," she thinks. In order not to hate these creatures who are sending her to her death, she imagines them as pets. It isn't just the contestants who risk the loss of their humanity. It is all who watch.
Katniss struggles to win not only the Games but the inherent contest for audience approval. Because this is the first book in a series, not everything is resolved, and what is left unanswered is the central question. Has she sacrificed too much? We know what she has given up to survive, but not whether the price was too high. Readers will wait eagerly to learn more.
Megan Whalen Turner is the author of the Newbery Honor book
The Thief and its sequels,
The Queen of Attolia and
The King of Attolia. The next book in the series will be published by Greenwillow in 2010.

From School Library Journal

Starred review from September 1, 2008
Gr 7 Up-In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 14 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing. This book will definitely resonate with the generation raised on reality shows like "Survivor" and "American Gladiator." Book one of a planned trilogy."Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Booklist

Starred review from September 1, 2008
This is a grand-opening salvo in a new series by the author of the Underland Chronicles. Sixteen-year-old Katniss poaches food for her widowed mother and little sister from the forest outside the legal perimeter of District 12, the poorest of the dozen districts constituting Panem, the North American dystopic state that has replaced the U.S. in the not-too-distant future. Her hunting and tracking skills serve her well when she is then cast into the nations annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death where contestants must battle harsh terrain, artificially concocted weather conditions, and two teenaged contestants from each of Panems districts. District 12s second tribute is Peeta, the bakers son, who has been in love with Katniss since he was five. Each new plot twist ratchets up the tension, moving the story forward and keeping the reader on edge.Although Katniss may be skilled with a bow and arrow and adept at analyzing her opponents next moves, she has much to learn about personal sentiments, especially her own. Populated by three-dimensional characters, this is a superb tale of physical adventure, political suspense, and romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

From Horn Book

Starred review from September 1, 2008
Survivor meets "The Lottery" as the author of the popular Underland Chronicles returns with what promises to be an even better series. The United States is no more, and the new Capitol, high in the Rocky Mountains, requires each district to send two teenagers, a boy and a girl, to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a reality show from which only one of the twenty-four participants will emerge victorious -- and alive. When her younger sister is chosen by lottery to represent their district, Katniss volunteers to go in her stead, while Peeta, who secretly harbors a crush on Katniss, is the boy selected to join her. A fierce, resourceful competitor who wins the respect of the other participants and the viewing public, Katniss also displays great compassion and vulnerability through her first-person narration. The plot is front and center here -- the twists and turns are addictive, particularly when the romantic subplot ups the ante -- yet the Capitol's oppression and exploitation of the districts always simmers just below the surface, waiting to be more fully explored in future volumes. Collins has written a compulsively readable blend of science fiction, survival story, unlikely romance, and social commentary.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From AudioFile Magazine

In this riveting dystopia story of a fascist United States, rebellious districts are punished by the government with the annual Reaping. Each district provides a child at the Reaping to fight to the death against the other districts' children in the Hunger Games, based on the Greek myth of Theseus. The story's heroine, Catniss, already hardened by a lifetime of poaching to feed her family's gulag existence, bravely fights to survive the televised, violent, and sickly voyeuristic games. Carolyn McCormick gives a detailed and attentive narration. However, she may rely too much on the strength of the prose without providing the drama young adult listeners often enjoy. That said, the production is a compelling choice for teen and fantasy listeners. K.C. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine