Book #78 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

One of my freshmen has been begging me to read this book for months. Last week, she finally just brought it to me and said keep it until you get it read. Turns out I had just finished up book #77 the night before, so I decided to honor her request and read it. I see why this book impacted her so greatly and why she has read it 3 times. While the book was sitting on my desk last week, I had a lot of students comment on how they had read it. After finishing it, I see why it is right up there with the Harry Potter series on these kids' favorites list. This book was a futuristic look into a civilization broken into 12 districts and ruled by the all-powerful Capitol. In order to "keep the peace" (more like stomp on the little guy), the Capitol requires each district to send one boy and one girl between ages 12-19 to the Capitol each year for the Hunger Games. The 24 children enter an arena where not only do they face the dangers of surviving in the wild, but they also must kill each other to be the last man standing. The winner takes all. The other 23 are sent home in body bags. And what is despicable about the entire thing is that it is all televised (mandatory to watch) and betted on. This is a fascinating book that haunted my dreams and left me desperate for the heroine and yet deeply saddened as these children had to murder each other. This book gives a different perspective to the implications of war, poverty, and human nature. I always want to send a special shout out to an author that gets kids READING!!!! Way to go Suzanne Collins.