The Hunger Games is a young adult novel written by American television writer and novelist Suzanne Collins. It was first published on September 14, 2008, by Scholastic, in hardcover.^[1] It is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where the countries of North America once existed. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, holds hegemony over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle until only one person is left.

The book has been released as a paperback and also as an audiobook and e-book. The Hunger Games had an initial print of 200,000 – twice doubled from the original 50,000. Since its initial release, the novel has been translated into 26 languages and rights of production have been sold in 38 countries. The book received mostly positive feedback from major reviewers and authors. The Hunger Games is the first novel in The Hunger Games trilogy,^[2] followed by Catching Fire, published on September 1, 2009,^[3] and Mockingjay, published on August 24, 2010.^[4]

A film adaptation, co-written and co-produced by Collins herself and directed by Gary Ross, was released worldwide on March 23, 2012.

Inspiration and origins[link]

Collins says that the inspiration to write The Hunger Games came from channel surfing on television. On one channel she observed people competing on a reality show and on another she saw footage of the invasion of Iraq. The two "began to blur in this very unsettling way" and the idea for the book was formed.^[5] The Greek myth of Theseus served as the basis for the story, with Collins describing Katniss as a futuristic Theseus, and that Roman gladiatorial games formed the framework. The sense of loss that Collins developed through her father's service in the Vietnam War also affected the story, whose heroine lost her father at age 11, five years before the story begins.^[6] Collins stated that the deaths of the young characters and other "dark passages" were the hardest parts of the book to write, but she had accepted passages such as these were necessary to the story.^[7] She considered the moments where Katniss reflects on happier moments in her past to be the more enjoyable.^[7]

Plot[link]

The Hunger Games takes place in a nation known as Panem, after the destruction of North America by some unknown apocalyptic event. Panem consists of a wealthy Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts under the Capitol's hegemony. District 12, where the book begins, is located in the coal-rich region that was formerly Appalachia.^[8]

As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol in which a 13th district was destroyed, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games. This is an event in which the participants (or "tributes") must fight in an outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol, until only one individual remains. The story is narrated by 16-year-old child, whose name and gender are not immediately revealed. She is Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Prim. Also selected from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a baker's son whom Katniss knows from school, and who once gave her bread when her family was starving.

Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol where their drunken mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, victor of the 50th Hunger Games, instructs them to watch and learn the talents of the other tributes. They are then publicly displayed to the Capitol audience in a televised session with interviewer Caesar Flickerman. During this time, Peeta reveals on-air his longtime unrequited love for Katniss. Katniss believes this to be a ploy to gain audience support for him in the Games, which can be crucial for survival, as audience members are encouraged to send gifts such as food, medicine, and tools to favored tributes during the Games. While nearly half the tributes are killed in the first day of the Games alone, Katniss relies on her well-practiced hunting and outdoor skills to survive. A few days into the games, Katniss develops an alliance with Rue, a 12-year-old girl from the agricultural District 11 who reminds Katniss of her sister, Primrose. The alliance is short-lived; Rue is killed by another tribute. At Rue's request Katniss sings to her, then spreads flowers over her body as a sign of respect—and of disgust towards the Capitol.

Supposedly due to Katniss and Peeta's beloved image in the minds of the audience as "star-crossed lovers", a rule change is announced midway through the Games, stating that two tributes from the same district can win the Hunger Games as a pair. Upon hearing this, Katniss searches for Peeta and eventually finds him wounded. As she nurses him back to health, she acts the part of a young girl falling in love to gain more favor with the audience and consequently gifts from her sponsors. When the couple remain as the last two surviving tributes, the Gamemakers reverse the rule change in an attempt to force them into a dramatic finale, where one must kill the other to win. Katniss, knowing that the Gamemakers would rather have two victors than none, retrieves highly poisonous berries known as "nightlock" from her pouch and offers some to Peeta. Realizing that Katniss and Peeta intend to commit suicide, the Gamemakers announce that both will be the victors of the 74th Hunger Games.

Although she survives the ordeal in the arena and is treated to a hero's welcome in the Capitol, Katniss is warned by Haymitch that she has now become a political target after defying her society's authoritarian leaders so publicly. Afterwards, Peeta is heartbroken when he learns that Katniss's actions in the arena were part of a calculated ploy to earn sympathy from the audience. However, Katniss is unsure of her own feelings and realizes that she is dreading the moment when she and Peeta will go their separate ways.

Themes[link]

In an interview with Collins, it was noted that the books "[tackle] issues like severe poverty, starvation, oppression, and the effects of war among others."^[9] The book deals with the struggle for self-preservation that the people of Panem face in their districts and the Hunger Games in which they must participate.^[10] The starvation and need for resources that the citizens encounter both in and outside of the arena create an atmosphere of helplessness that the main characters try to overcome in their fight for survival. Katniss's proficiency with the bow and arrow stems from her need to hunt in order to provide food for her family—this necessity results in the development of skills that are useful to her in the Games, and represents her rejection of the Capitol's rules in the face of life-threatening situations.^[11]

The choices the characters make and the strategies they use are often morally complex.^[11] The tributes build a personality they want the audience to see throughout the Games.^[11] Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) names the major themes of The Hunger Games as "government control, 'big brother', and personal independence."^[12] The Capitol makes watching the games required viewing.^[11] The theme of power and downfall, similar to that of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, was pointed out by Scholastic.^[13] Laura Miller of the New Yorker finds that the author's stated premise of the Games -- an exercise in propaganda and a “humiliating as well as torturous .... punishment” for a failed uprising against the Capitol many years earlier -- unconvincing. "You don’t demoralize and dehumanize a subject people by turning them into celebrities and coaching them on how to craft an appealing persona for a mass audience." But the story works much better if the theme is vicissitudes of high school and "the adolescent social experience".

"The rules are arbitrary, unfathomable, and subject to sudden change. A brutal social hierarchy prevails, with the rich, the good-looking, and the athletic lording their advantages over everyone else. To survive you have to be totally fake. Adults don’t seem to understand how high the stakes are; your whole life could be over, and they act like it’s just some “phase”! Everyone’s always watching you, scrutinizing your clothes or your friends and obsessing over whether you’re having sex or taking drugs or getting good enough grades, but no one cares who you really are or how you really feel about anything."^[14]

Donald Brake from The Washington Times, as well as Andy Langford, a senior pastor at Central United Methodist Church, states that the story has Christian themes, such as that of self-sacrifice, which is found in Katniss' substitution for her younger sister, analogous to the sacrifice of Jesus as a substitute for the atonement of sins.^[15][16] Brake, as well as another reviewer, Amy Simpson, both find that the story also revolves around the theme of hope, which is exemplified in the "incorruptible goodness of Katniss' sister, Primrose."^[17] She also states that Peeta Mellark is "a Christ figure" in the story.^[18] Similar to the events in Passion of Jesus, in the Games, Peeta is stabbed after openly warning Katniss to flee for her life, and is then buried in the ground and placed in a cave for three days before emerging with a new lease on life.^[19] Moreover, the Christian image of the Bread of Life is used throughout The Hunger Games; in the story Peeta shows up "bearing a warm loaf of bread," and Katniss slowly comes "back to life."^[20] A news video starring Fr. Jonathan Morris aired on Fox News discussed the religious themes in the story further.^[21] In addition, some pastors have written Bible studies discussing the Christian allegories in the story.^[22][23]

Publication history[link]

The Hunger Games was first published as a hardcover in the United States on September 14, 2008. An audiobook version was released in December 2008, and is read by Carolyn McCormick.^[24] A trade paperback edition of the book was released on July 6, 2010.^[25]

Audiobook[link]

An audiobook version of The Hunger Games was released in December 2008, which is read by Carolyn McCormick, and runs at about eleven hours, ten minutes.^[24] The magazine AudioFile said: "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."^[26] School Library Journal also praised her performance: "Carolyn McCormick ably voices the action-packed sequences and Katniss's every fear and strength shines through, along with her doomed growing attraction to one of her fellow Tributes."^[27]

Sales[link]

After writing the novel, Collins signed a six-figure deal for three books with Scholastic in 2006. The first book originally had a 50,000 first printing, which was then bumped up twice to 200,000 copies.^[5] By February 11, 2010, The Hunger Games had sold 800,000 copies^[28] and rights to the novel had been sold in 38 territories.^[28] By November 2008, The Hunger Games became a The New York Times Best Seller.^[29] By September 2010, The Hunger Games was on The New York Times list for over 100 consecutive weeks,^[30] though it subsequently fell from the list.^[31] By the time the movie for The Hunger Games was released, the book had been on USA Today's best-selling books list for 135 consecutive weeks,^[32] and the publisher reported 26 million Hunger Games trilogy books in print, including movie tie-in books.^[33]

The Hunger Games trilogy has sold exceptionally well in ebook format. Suzanne Collins is the first children's or young adult author to sell over one million Kindle ebooks, making her the sixth author to join the "Kindle Million Club", which recognizes authors who have sold over 1 million paid units in the Amazon Kindle store.^[34] In March 2012, Amazon announced that Collins had become the best-selling Kindle author of all time.^[35] Amazon also revealed that Collins had written 29 of the 100 most-highlighted passages in Kindle ebooks—and on a separate Amazon list of recently-highlighted passages, Collins had written 17 of the top 20.^[36]

Cover[link]

The cover of The Hunger Games is black, featuring a gold mockingjay —a crossbreed born from genetically engineered male jabberjays, and female mockingbirds— with an arrow inscribed in a circle. This is an image of the pin given to Katniss by the District 12 mayor's daughter, Madge Undersee, which Katniss wears in the arena.^[37] The image matches the description of the pin that is given in the book, except for the arrow: "It's as if someone fashioned a small golden bird and then attached a ring around it. The bird is connected to the ring only by its wing tips."^[38]

Critical reception[link]

The Hunger Games has been well-received by critics. In Stephen King's review for Entertainment Weekly, he praised the book's addictive quality and also compared it to "shoot-it-if-it-moves videogames in the lobby of the local eightplex; you know it's not real, but you keep plugging in quarters anyway." However, he stated that there were "displays of authorial laziness that kids will accept more readily than adults" and that the love triangle was standard for the genre. He gave the book an overall B grade.^[1] Elizabeth Bird of School Library Journal praised the novel, saying it is "exciting, poignant, thoughtful, and breathtaking by turns". The review also called it one of the best books of 2008.^[39] Booklist also gave a positive review, praising the character violence and romance involved in the book.^[40] In a review for The New York Times, John Green wrote that the novel was "brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced", and that "the considerable strength of the novel comes in Collins's convincingly detailed world-building and her memorably complex and fascinating heroine." However, he also noted that sometimes the book does not realize the allegorical potential that the plot has to offer and that the writing "described the action and little else."^[41] Kirkus Reviews gave a positive review, praising the action and world-building, but pointed out that "poor copyediting in the first printing will distract careful readers—a crying shame".^[42] Time magazine was positive and praised the hypnotic quality of the violence.^[43] Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, claims it is the "closest thing to a perfect adventure novel" he has ever read.^[44] Stephenie Meyer (author of the Twilight series) endorsed the book on her website, saying, "I was so obsessed with this book ...The Hunger Games is amazing."^[45] NBA star LeBron James is reportedly a big fan of the book series, praises the book series, and reads it before and after games in the locker room.^[46][47][48]

The Hunger Games has been criticized for its similarities to the 1999 novel Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami. Collins has stated, "I had never heard of that book or that author until my book was turned in. At that point, it was mentioned to me, and I asked my editor if I should read it. He said: 'No, I don't want that world in your head. Just continue with what you're doing.' " Susan Dominus of The New York Times reports that "the parallels are striking enough that Collins's work has been savaged on the blogosphere as a baldfaced ripoff," but argued that "there are enough possible sources for the plot line that the two authors might well have hit on the same basic setup independently."^[49] King noted that the reality TV "badlands" were similar to Battle Royale, as well as his own The Running Man and The Long Walk.^[1] Green also pointed out that the premise of the novel was "nearly identical" to Battle Royale.^[41] Eric Eisenberg wrote that The Hunger Games was "not a rip off [of Battle Royale], but simply a different usage of a similar idea", pointing out various differences in both story and themes.^[50] Robert Nishimura wrote that "it would be a waste of time to defend Battle Royale from plagiarism, since The Hunger Games has an entirely different set of cultural baggage, as well as being a disservice to countless other source material that deal with the exact same subject matter. Collins just happened to tap in to the creative collective consciousness, drawing on ideas that have played out many times before, in addition to her intentional reference to Greek mythology."^[51]

The novel has also been controversial;^[52] it ranked in fifth place on the American Library Association's list of frequently challenged books for 2010, with the reasons: "sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and violence."^[53]

Awards[link]

The Hunger Games received a number of awards and honors. It was named one of Publishers Weekly's "Best Books of the Year" in 2008^[54] and a The New York Times "Notable Children's Book of 2008".^[55] It was the 2009 winner of the Golden Duck Award in the Young Adult Fiction Category.^[56] The Hunger Games was also a "2008 Cybil Winner" for fantasy and science-fiction books along with The Graveyard Book.^[57] It is also one of School Library Journal's "Best Books 2008"^[58] and a "Booklist Editors' Choice" in 2008.^[59] In 2011, the book won the California Young Reader Medal.^[60] In the 2012 edition of Scholastic's Parent and Child magazine, The Hunger Games was listed as the 33rd best book for children, with the award for "Most Exciting Ending".^[61][62]

In popular culture[link]

The book has inspired a number of parodies including The Hunger Pains written by the Harvard Lampoon,^[63][64] The Younger Games^[65][66][67] and The Hunger But Mainly Death Games.^[68]

Film adaptation[link]

Lions Gate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, which is being produced by Nina Jacobson's production company Color Force.^[69][70] Collins adapted the novel for film herself,^[70] and her script was reviewed by screenwriter Billy Ray.^[71] Collins wrote the script and intended the film to have a PG-13 rating.^[72]

The film was directed by Gary Ross with Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Katniss, Josh Hutcherson in the role of Peeta, and Liam Hemsworth in the role of Gale.^[73][74] Production began in late Spring 2011^[75] and the film was released on March 23, 2012.^[76] A sequel is due to be released on November 22, 2013.^[77] The film's opening weekend brought in a record $152.5 million (USD) in North America.^[78]

[edit] The Hunger Games Adventures

A social network game called The Hunger Games Adventures was released for Facebook to coincide with the film's release. It is a role-playing video game developed by Lionsgate in coalition with Funtactix.^[79]

See also[link]

	Novels portal
	Children's literature portal

• The Condemned
• The Most Dangerous Game
• Series 7: The Contenders

References[link]

External links[link]

• Suzanne Collins's official website
• Scholastic Official Site
• The Hunger Games at the Hunger Games Wiki.
• The Hunger Games on Google Books

Jennifer Lawrence
Lawrence at the 83rd Academy Awards, February 27, 2011
Born	Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (1990-08-15) August 15, 1990 (age 21) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2006–present

Jennifer Shrader Lawrence^[1] (born August 15, 1990) is an American film and television actress. She had lead roles in TBS's The Bill Engvall Show and in the independent films The Burning Plain and Winter's Bone, for which she received nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Satellite Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award. At age 20, she was the second youngest actress ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She is also known for playing Mystique in X-Men: First Class. In 2012, Lawrence achieved wider recognition starring as the heroine Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, an adaptation of Suzanne Collins' best-selling novel of the same name. Her performance in the film garnered her notable critical praise and marked her as the highest grossing action heroine of all time.^[2][3] Lawrence's performances thus far have prompted Rolling Stone to define her as "the most talented young actress in America."^[4]

Early life[link]

Lawrence was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and has two older brothers. Her parents are Karen (née Koch), who runs a children's camp, and Gary Lawrence, who once owned a concrete construction firm, Lawrence & Associates.^[5][6][7] She acted in local theater^[8] and, by the age of 14, had decided to pursue an acting career, persuading her parents to take her to New York City to find a talent agent. Prior to finding success in Hollywood, Lawrence attended Kammerer Middle School. She graduated from high school two years early with a 3.9 average in order to begin a career in acting.^[5][9] While growing up and in between acting, Lawrence served as an assistant nurse at the children's summer day camp that her mother ran.^[10]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Lawrence had never taken any drama classes/lessons for acting.^[5] She started out her acting career in the TBS comedy The Bill Engvall Show, playing the eldest daughter of Lauren Pearson. Written and created by Bill Engvall and Michael Leeson, the show is set in a Denver suburb and follows the life of 'Bill Pearson' (played by Engvall), a family counselor whose own family could use a little dose of counseling. The series went on the air in September 2007 and was canceled in 2009 after three seasons. Lawrence received the Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Performer in a TV Series for her role in the show.

Lawrence had guest-roles in the television series The Devil You Know, Cold Case, Medium, and Monk.^[11]

In 2008, she appeared in a small role in the film Garden Party as Tiff. It was directed by Jason Freeland. The same year, Lawrence appeared on the big screen in Guillermo Arriaga's film directorial debut The Burning Plain, opposite Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger. Her performance in the film earned her the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young emerging actor/actress at the Venice Film Festival in 2008.^[12]

Still in 2008, Lawrence had the lead role in another film director's debut, Lori Petty's family drama The Poker House, opposite Selma Blair and Chloë Moretz, where she starred as Agnes, a young girl victim of abuse.^[13] Lawrence was awarded the Los Angeles Film Festival for Outstanding Performance for her role in the film. She appeared in the music video for the song "The Mess I Made", from the 2009 album Losing Sleep by Parachute.

2010–present[link]

Lawrence's lead role in Debra Granik's Winter's Bone, which won best picture at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010, is generally cited as a breakout performance for her.^[14] She portrays Ree Dolly, a seventeen-year-old in the Ozark Mountains who cares for her mentally ill mother and her younger brother and sister. Ree then discovers that her father put their house and land up as a bond for a court appearance before he disappeared, and the family now faces eviction.^[15] The performance was highly acclaimed by film critics. David Denby, writing in The New Yorker, said "the movie would be unimaginable with anyone less charismatic playing Ree."^[16] Peter Travers from the Rolling Stone also spoke highly of her and noted that "her performance is more than acting, it's a gathering storm. Lawrence's eyes are a roadmap to what's tearing Ree apart".^[17] Receiving accolades for her performance, Lawrence was awarded the National Board of Review Award for Best Breakthrough Performance. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress on January 25, 2011, becoming the second-youngest actress to date to be nominated for the category,^[18] and also accrued nominations from the Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, and the Satellite Awards among others.

Lawrence had a role in The Beaver, a dark comedy starring Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson that was filmed in 2009, but which spent an extended period of time stalled due to controversies surrounding Gibson. It was released on May 6, 2011. Lawrence co-starred in the independent film Like Crazy, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and received a wider release by Paramount Pictures.^[19]

On June 18, 2011, it was announced that Lawrence was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In June 2011, she starred as shape-shifting villain Mystique alongside James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender in X-Men: First Class,^[20] a prequel to the rest of the X-Men film series and will be reprising this role again in the sequel. Lawrence's Mystique is a younger version of the character played by Rebecca Romijn in earlier X-Men films.

She is also set to star alongside Elisabeth Shue in Mark Tonderai's thriller House at the End of the Street,^[21] which completed filming in 2010 and is in post-production.^[22]

Lawrence was cast in David O. Russell's The Silver Linings Playbook, opposite Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. She was originally cast to play "O" in the film Savages directed by Oliver Stone, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

In 2012, Lawrence replaced Angelina Jolie in Susanne Bier's period thriller, The Falling, based on the novel Serena by Ron Rash.^[23][24] She will be playing the role of Serena who learns that she can never bear her husband children and is set out to murder the woman who bore her husband an illegitimate son before their marriage.

[edit] The Hunger Games

In March 2011, Lawrence was offered the part of Katniss Everdeen in the film The Hunger Games, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins. Despite being a fan of the books, Lawrence took three days to accept the role because she was initially intimidated by the size of the movie and what it may mean for her fame.^[25] She underwent extensive training to get in shape for the role, including stunt training, archery, rock and tree climbing, combat, running, parkour, pilates, and yoga.^[26][27] The film was released on March 23, 2012, and set the record for the third-largest opening weekend of all time, making a record-breaking $152.5 million in three days for a non-sequel film.^[28]

The fact that The Hunger Games emerged as a big box office hit with a female lead represents a dramatic shift for the action film genre because historically, among the "top 200 worldwide box-office hits ever ($350 million and up), not one has been built around a female action star" and for the first time ever, Lawrence contradicts that.^[29] She is currently the highest grossing action heroine.

Though the film generally received positive reviews, Lawrence's strong portrayal of Katniss Everdeen was the most highly praised with Todd McCarthy from The Hollywood Reporter saying Lawrence embodies Katniss, "just as one might imagine her from the novel" and "anchors" the whole film "with impressive gravity and presence", ultimately calling her "the ideal screen actress".^[30] Kenneth Turan from the Los Angeles Times stated that Lawrence is the "best possible performer as Katniss and is the key factor in making 'Hunger Games' an involving popular entertainment with strong narrative drive that holds our attention".^[31] Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert also agreed that "Lawrence is strong and convincing in the central role".^[32]

Lawrence will start filming the film adaptation of the second novel in the The Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire, this summer, which is scheduled to be released on November 23, 2013.^[33]

Personal life[link]

Lawrence lived in New York City for the first few years of her career, but now resides in Santa Monica, California.^[5] She likes to paint, knit sweaters and scarves, surf, and play the guitar.^[34][35] She has been dating English actor Nicholas Hoult since 2011.^[36]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jennifer Lawrence at the Internet Movie Database