“Remember, we're madly in love, so it's all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it.”
The Hunger Games
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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'S BEST BOOKS OF 2008:
CHILDREN'S FICTION
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The Hunger Games is the first book in the series and was released on September 14, 2008.
The Hunger Games follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th Hunger Games in place of her younger sister Primrose Everdeen. Also selected from District 12 is Peeta Mellark. They are mentored by their district's only living victor, Haymitch Abernathy, who won 24 years earlier and has since led a solitary life of alcoholism.
Catching Fire
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2010 INDIES CHOICE AWARD WINNER--YOUNG ADULT
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Catching Fire is the second installment in the series, released on September 1, 2009.
In Catching Fire, which begins six months after the conclusion of The Hunger Games, Katniss learns that her defiance in the previous novel has started a chain reaction that has inspired rebellion in the districts. President Snow threatens to harm Katniss' family and friends if she does not help to defuse the unrest in the districts and marry Peeta. Meanwhile, Peeta has become aware of Katniss' disingenuous love for him, but he has also been informed of Snow's threats, so he promises to help keep up the act to spare the citizens of District 12.
Mockingjay
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A BOOKLIST EDITORS' CHOICE, 2009
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Mockingjay, the third and final book in The Hunger Games series, was released on August 24, 2010.
Most of the districts have rebelled against the Capitol, led by District 13 and its President Alma Coin. The Capitol lied about the district being destroyed in the Dark Days. After a Mexican standoff with the Capitol, the District 13 residents took to living underground and rebuilding their strength. The District 12 survivors find shelter with them. Katniss, after seeing first-hand the destruction wrought on her district, agrees to become the "Mockingjay", the symbol of the rebellion. She sets conditions, however. Peeta, Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta, and Enobaria, fellow Games victors captured by the Capitol, are to be granted immunity. Katniss also demands the privilege of killing Snow, but Coin only agrees to flip for the honor.
Praise
THE HUNGER GAMES
“I couldn't stop reading."
--Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
"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."
--Horn Book, STARRED REVIEW
“Brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced. A futuristic novel every bit as good and as allegorically rich as Scott Westerfeld's 'Uglies' books.”
--John Green, The New York Times Book Review
"Themes of government control, "big brother," and personal independence are explored amidst a thrilling adventure that will appeal to science fiction, survival, and adventure readers. The suspense of this powerful novel will keep the reader glued to the page long after bedtime."
--VOYA, Deborah L. Dubois
CATCHING FIRE
“Whereas Katniss kills with finesse, Collins writes with raw power."
--Time Magazine
"Beyond the expert world building, the acute social commentary and the large cast of fully realized characters, there’s action, intrigue, romance and some amount of hope in a story readers will find completely engrossing. Collins weaves in enough background for this novel to stand alone, but it will be a far richer experience for those who have read the first installment and come to love Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch and the rest of the desperate residents of this dystopia. A humdinger of a cliffhanger will leave readers clamoring for volume three."
--Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
"Again, Collins’ crystalline, unadorned prose provides an open window to perfect pacing and electrifying world-building, but what’s even more remarkable is that aside from being tremendously action-packed sf thrillers, these books are also brimming with potent themes of morality, obedience, sacrifice, redemption, love, law, and, above all, survival. Honestly, this book only needs to be good enough to satisfy its legions of fans. Fortunately, it’s great. And if you were dying to find out what happens after the last book, get ready for pure torture awaiting the next."
--Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Collins expertly blends fantasy, romance and political intrigue."
--People Magazine
MOCKINGJAY
“Fans will be happy to hear that Mockingjay is every bit as complex and imaginative as Hunger Games and Catching Fire."
--Entertainment Weekly
“Suspenseful... Collins' fans, grown-ups included, will race to the end."
--USA Today
"This dystopic-fantasy series, which began in 2008, has had such tremendous crossover appeal that teens and parents may discover themselves vying for -- and talking about -- the family copy of "Mockingjay." And there's much to talk about because this powerful novel pierces cheery complacency like a Katniss-launched arrow. Look skeptically at computer and television images, it suggests, be aware of spin, gaze upon the young faces of the world's soldiers. Children forced to kill children? It's not just in the pages of a novel."
--The Washington Post
“At its best the trilogy channels the political passion of 1984, the memorable violence of A Clockwork Orange, the imaginative ambience of The Chronicles of Narnia and the detailed inventiveness of Harry Potter."
--New York Times Book Review