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Cover of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games

Book 1 of The Hunger Games

  • 397 pages · about 7 hours
  • First published 2008
  • 143 editions

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1 About this book

The Hunger Games is a 2008 dystopian novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the perspective of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the future, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North America. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games is an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle royale to the death.

The book received critical acclaim from major reviewers and authors. It was praised for its plot and character development. In writing The Hunger Games, Collins drew upon Greek mythology, Roman gladiatorial games, and contemporary reality television for thematic content. The novel won many awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, and was named one of Publishers Weekly's "Best Books of the Year" in 2008.

  • Science fiction
  • Dystopian fiction
  • Survival
  • Survival skills
  • Survival Stories
  • Adventure
  • Action and adventure fiction
  • Fantasy

2 What to expect

A fast dystopian story for teens: Katniss volunteers for a televised fight to the death. Told in the first person and present tense, with short chapters and cliffhangers; violent, though not graphic.

Good for readers who want: dystopian fiction, a survival story, and a fast pace.

3 About Suzanne Collins

Born 1962

Suzanne Collins (born August 10, 1962) is an American author and television writer who is best known as the author of the young adult dystopian fiction book series The Hunger Games. She is also the author of the children's fantasy series The Underland Chronicles.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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