The Hunger Games are a trilogy of books, written by Suzanne Collins. These books are what Collins describes as a ‘dark vision of the near future’; the type of English is first person and advanced language is used as Collins targets the 10-15 year audience. This book is science fiction based novel of post-apocalyptic earth although signs of non advanced mankind do show, as well as present-day entertainment. Take big brother for example: this is reality show being filmed and posted on television by big media companies which could reflect the capitol sort of ways.

                     Every year, the cruel Capitol (a vast city that controls the world under president Snow’s reign), reaps one girl and one boy from each of the twelve districts. These candidates will appear in a live, gladiator-style TV show. One year, from district twelve, a young woman, Katniss Everdeen, volunteers to go to these games in order to save her sister. She then takes this as a death sentence but, what Katniss doesn’t know is that since her father was killed in twelve’s mines, survival has become a daily task.

                     Katniss Everdeen, the main character in this trilogy, is very much a tom boy  -- she isn’t interested a bit in what she wears, apart from her dad’s old hunting jacket,  which she takes extreme care when she wears it. In district twelve, which is Katniss’ home and should have been for the rest of her life if she and Peeta, (Peeta being the boy who was reaped from district twelve with Katniss), hadn’t held out the berries and sparked a rebellion against the capitol. So in the second book Katniss and Peeta are dragged back into the games although, there is a twist, because this is the quarter-quell. This is the hunger game that marks 75 years since the dark day rebellion when the capitol overpowered the rebels and created the districts and the games.

                     Suzanne Collins, the author is a very talented author, but she actually started her career writing scripts for animation shows. She was also the head writer for Scholastic Entertainment's Clifford's Puppy Day. She received a Writers' Guild of America nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed Christmas special, Santa Baby. When she wrote her Hunger Games book she passed on a TV show in America and the TV show loved it so within 14 days of it being released 1.5 million copies were made in North America alone! Her book was also highly recommended by: the New-York Times, Washington daily, Chicago Times and LA weekly. Collins has then gone to win the;

• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award.
•  Hal Clement Award
•  Cybils Awards for Fantasy & Science Fiction -- Young Adult book.

                     The day I read that blurb on the back of the book, I already knew I was going to start and finish these books in about a week.  And I did!  This is  because it is such a great book, that you cannot put it down until you have finished it, because the way Collins writes, it is almost as if she is actually there in front of you telling you this story she has lived through. I find it amazing to read; as the suspense never allows you to know what comes next because Katniss, the main character is so unpredictable. I know for sure that the editor has paid a lot of attention to the new front, and with the film coming out… more people will be buying the books. I have actually seen the film and this is only my opinion but I think they have not ruined it like some film-makers have ruined some other good books but, The actors in the film of the games are actually like I imagined them when I read the books.

                      For me, the Hunger Games were a great series of books and even maybe the best I have read in quite a while. Suzanne Collins, the author of today and even the author of tomorrow…

                      I loved every part of them I rate them; four and a half star out of five. Although for me it lacked the ‘Alex Rider wow factor’ sort of extreme excitement. I did think about five stars but the thing that holds it back is that there is too much adult humour that younger kids just don’t get it and that puts them off reading it, so for me that was half a mark off.

Written by Pierre-Brieuc Steen