Krista+benjamin+Book+Review

Krista Benjamin Book Review #1 EDU 307

__** Character Analysis **__

The Hunger Games is what everyone seems to be talking about these days, but before the hit film there were books that really opened my eyes to a different type of literature. A main portion of the book was based on character development. The characters in this book really seemed to just mature and change throughout the course of the novel. Katniss Everdeen, the main character in the book starts off as a very timid young sixteen year old who is just trying to live her life in her district without getting in trouble with the capitol. However things do not always go as planned and soon Katniss is the one who will be fighting for her life. Katniss’s character really is a role model to young girls and boys everywhere. She is so strong willed and independent and despite what others believe or think she does what she knows is the right thing to do. In many books you see the protagonist as a young man but it is nice for a change to have a woman be in the lead. Besides Katniss, another character who developed throughout the book is Peeta Mellark. Like Katniss, Peeta is also fighting for his life. In the beginning of the book Peeta is very quiet and shy and is very scared to fight but as the book continues you see him come out of his shell. Like Katniss, Peeta fights for what is right in a civilization where everything seems to be going wrong. He put his life on the line numerous times to protect Katniss and help her out. Although Katniss is the lead in this book Peeta is just as much as a hero because he fought for freedom. Both Katniss and Peeta did not like how their country was becoming and even though they both might have been faced with death they chose to do what they truly believed in. Many children today are faced with a lot of peer pressure and difficulties. This book, although action packed and exciting, can really show them that it is okay for them to be who they are. In the book Katniss came from an extremely poor family but that did not stop her from going after what she knew in her heart was right. A lot of kids could relate to this because many kids think that they are not good enough or they will never have what other kids have, but this book proves the impossible in which anything you set your mind to you can do it.

**__ Summary __**
 The Hunger Games is based in the future after the world we all know today falls apart. There are twelve districts within this new rebuilt country and everyone has to follow the Capitol’s orders. The Capital runs all of the districts and has absurd rules that people need to follow, for instance, people in district one cannot go to district two without consequences. Every year the Capitol hosts the “Hunger Games” in which one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen get chosen to fight in a battle field to the death until there is one winner left.  Katniss is from district twelve and is an excellent hunter. When her little sister Primrose gets chosen to fight in the Hunger Games Katniss immediately volunteers to go in instead of her. Peeta Mallark also got chosen to fight from District twelve. The pair immediately has to leave and go to the Capitol where they must train with specialists to get ready to go into the games. The people in the capital are extremely wealthy and it is very weird for Katniss to see this because she comes from a very poor area. The tributes (kids who got picked from different districts) get wined and dined, styled and worshiped up until the games. The rich people are able to bet on them and give them scores, because the actual Hunger Games will be broadcasted live for the whole country to see. Katniss and Peeta both have a mentor, his name is Haymatch and he is from their district and won the games years before. However, Haymatch is a drunk and is not a very good coach. Katniss is willing to train to the best of her abilities because she is determined to win this for her sister Primrose. All of the tributes get interviewed on national television to show the world their personality and skills. When being interviewed Peeta confesses his love for Katniss and this comes as a huge surprise to Katniss, but her team of mentors encourage her to keep it up because the audience will love it and be sure to send her supplies during the games. Katniss is a very strong competitor and she is the one everyone is talking about. There are twenty four tributes in total and some of the tributes are known as the “careers” these are kids who have been training for years and very scary. Although Katniss and Peeta were scared they knew they had to fight.  When the tributes finally make it to the Games alliances are quickly formed. To Katniss’s surprise Peeta joins teams with the “Careers”. She is surprised by this but she knows she cannot be upset about it because she is trying to stay alive. Katniss uses her hunting abilities to stay alive in the games and she quickly realizes that Peeta only formed an alliance with the Careers because he ultimately wanted to save her and he needed to know where they were at all times so that he could protect her. Along the way Katniss befriends a little girl from another district named Rue. Rue and Katniss team up and become very close until Rue is murdered by another tribute. This devastated Katniss and as a sign of rebellion she tried to give Rue a proper burial so the whole world would see it on T.V. As the game goes on the game makers decide that this year for a change more than one person can win the games. Katniss immediately runs to find Peeta so they can fight and win it together and return home, but she finds Peeta very sick and weak. She promises to never leave him and to help him. As the games wind down Katniss and Peeta take out everyone until there is one person left. The game makers wanted to put some excitement in the games so they sent out mutilated dogs to attack the three final tributes. These dogs were created by the game makers and each was to have been a soul of a young person who had died in the game. Katniss and Peeta ultimately win and were so grateful to be able to come home until the game makers announced that they had changed their minds and only one person could win, leaving Peeta or Katniss to die.  As another sign of rebellion Katniss decides that the game makers should not decide their fate and if they both couldn’t win than they both would die. She gets poisonous berries and told Peeta they would take them together. Right before the berries went into their mouths the game makers swooped down and got them announcing them both as winners.  Katniss and Peeta return to the capitol with cheering crowds. The president of the capital, President Snow makes a statement that proves that he is not happy with how Peeta and Katniss defied the rules and the book ends on that note, with the intentions that bad things were soon to come.

 Overall, I absolutely loved this book. I loved the futuristic feel to it and I loved the characters. Katniss is such a strong female protagonist and she really is an inspiration. She proved to the whole world that she is capable of defeating everyone and winning the hunger games. I disliked the whole point of killing young innocent kids but I understood that that was the rules for a country just like we have rules in our country. The book had so much action, drama and romance and it was the perfect mixture. I loved that Katniss was so rebellious and did the right thing despite the fact that she could get killed for it. She would have rather been killed for fighting for her country then killed on the battle field of the games. Certain parts of the books were very emotional. The part where Katniss volunteered for her sister and the part where she gave little Rue a proper burial really struck a chord with me. She knew she was doing wrong but she knew in her heart it was the right thing to do.
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=__**Author Information and bibliography **__=  The author, Suzzane Collins is from Connecticut and is a New York Times bestselling author. She has written two other books for the //Hunger Games// Trilogy including; //Catching Fire// and //Mocking jay.// Collins was named one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2010. In March 2012, Amazon announced that Collins had become the best-selling Kindle author of all time. 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. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Collins, Suzanne. //The Hunger Games//. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.