The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Just this very moment I finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Now I have a problem. It's going to be 15 days before book 2 is released and that's a long, long time to wait. Do you want to know why? Let me tell you a little bit about this story. Or was it real? Oh, I sure hope not.

Katniss is a spunky 16 year old girl from District 12 in Panem. Her district is the poorest in Panem and she must work each day to hunt and gather food for her family. Panem annually holds a televised competition much like CBS' television show, Survivor. Each district sends a boy and a girl to the Hunger Games. After much fanfare, they fight to the death before a live audience. Your heart will sink when you learn that Katniss is the girl who will represent District 12 this year. The suspense is cutting edge from the moment they enter the arena and the competition begins. It is survival of the fittest at its utmost! Will Katniss have the skills to be the single survivor? What about the boy who also enters the games from District 12, Peeta? How can either of them take the life of the other? Yet that must happen as the Capitol leadership, who arranges the Hunger Games, insist upon a lone survivor.

From the beginning I felt reasonably sure that Katniss would be the lone survivor and winner of the Hunger Games. What I did not expect was how exciting it would be to follow her every move. As with all good novels, I'm longing for more, much more. The author, Suzanne Collins, has written a superbly suspenseful science fiction novel. Thankfully, it is a trilogy. September 1, 2009 is marked on my calendar. I have an appointment with a book store to pick up Catching Fire. What is in store for my heroine Katniss next? I have just 15 days to wait.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm