the hunger games

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30 Days of Hunger Games – Event Finale!

With the release of The Hunger Games movie on 23rd March fast approaching we’ve got a message from Ella, who’s been running the 30 Days of Hunger Games event on her own blog – A World of Words – we supported the earlier ‘reaping ball’ stuff with special HG features earlier this month, so now it’s your chance to review and vote for the winner!

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Ok, so for Day 26, it’s voting time! The remaining 3 tributes sent me in their letters and we are leaving it up to you, the citizens of Panem, to vote on who you think should win the 74th Annual Hunger Games! All you need to do is read over each letter and pick which one that appealed to you the most and go to the poll, it’s on the upper left hand side of my blog, you can’t miss it, and click on who you want to vote for! You can only vote ONCE and for ONE person only! And to you tributes out there, you’re not allowed to vote for yourself, nor are you allowed to vote, we want to keep it fair! Sound simple enough? Here are the letters:

Andrea Kozari, District 12:

Greetings to all citizens! Andrea reporting for duty! I’m a Geologist in District 12. I’m very fascinated with bows and daggers. So my favorite weapon would be a combo of these two. The bow for distance and mid-range and a dual dagger for up close action. The best thing in my district? C’mon, we are talking about D12 here! Gale is here, so probably He is the best thing. Yes, maybe we are the poorest, but that’s sure as hell that we are the COOLEST! And We’re on fire! Why should I win? What makes me think I’m better than all these people in this “arena”? Um… You mean besides Haymitch trained me? Frankly, I have no clue. Probably nothing. I am not better, but I’m hope I’m luckier. D12 FTW!
Shaina Jachim, District 9:
Hello lovely citizen’s of Panem! It is my great pleasure to introduce myself to you today. Many refer to me by a few names: short fry, half a cracker, sower number 33, but since this is a more proper sort of thing, I would prefer to go by Shaina. District 9 is my home district, the place where seeds are sown, grain grows in abundance and I grew into the short stalk of wheat I am today.  I am a modest sapling, short, not as strong as the others, but I am quick, spry and fierce. Just yesterday I planted more than 20 rows of wheat, a record for a small sower like myself. Having to choose my favorite thing about my District is easier said than done. It’s a long waging battle between sitting out in the sun after a long day of planting, and the taste of warm, soft bread right out of the oven. Yummy! Now as for my weapon of choice, I would choose my rusty, trusty spade, if my strike doesn’t kill, infection sure will. Saying I should win the Hunger Games simply because I am skilled and clever, would be an over exaggeration of my limited skills. The winning should go to someone who is worthy of it and if decided that I am worthy I would be grateful beyond words. It would be an honor to win, it is an honor to have been able to just be a part of this. This whole adventure has made the days counting down to The Hunger Games much more exciting and pass more quickly. It has been great fun sharing in a common love for something. Thank you for your time, and may the best tribute win!
Veronika Briseno, District 10:
Hi my name is Veronika Briseño and I’m from district 10, my district is in charge of Livestock, to provide food to the Capitol.
My weapon of choice to the games is my brain, and traing strategically that the other tributes kill each other so I can win with out taken a life.
In my District I am a Barn Manager, so I have a great responsibility.
Why should I win the hunger games? Because I have a family and a fiancé, I like to came back to them with the price.
I want this do bad I don’t want to die, I want to live and have a family with my fiancé I am in love and The Capitol controls everything. But if I win that can control my happynnes and I want a mockingjay pin so bad that I can kill other tributes for it. I want to win and help other in my district because they need help and I don’t want the Capitol to control me or that the carrer tributes win because they have won a lot and they are privilege. I just want to be free and happy.
Have you picked who you want to win? Go to the polls and vote, don’t forget you can only vote once and it can be only for one tribute only! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! These letters have not been altered in any way, it’s the tribute’s own words! May the odds be ever in your favour, tributes!
Polls close on Saturday March 24, 11:59 PM! Winner will be announced on Sunday March 25! VOTE HERE
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30 Days of Hunger Games…Inspiring Fans

I’m sure most authors and readers are familiar with fan fiction, where readers who love a particular book, author or characters develop their own stories based around them. I’ve read some great fan fiction from Harry Potter to Twilight – people really commit and invest serious time and effort to producing their writing. Like every publishing phenomenon The Hunger Games has spawned its own versions of fan creativity, from artwork to writing, videos to music. Some of the most interesting pieces I’ve come across are posted here for your enjoyment 🙂

Fan Art

Fan Fiction.net   The Girl on Fire   Hunger Games Fan Fiction

You might also like author Mel Cusick-Jones’ dabble in fan fiction, posted on the blog as part of our

30 Days of Hunger Games event features: Prim’s Diary and Peeta’s Reaping Day

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The Hunger Games…Bonnie’s Review

Rating: 5*

What to say about The Hunger Games that’s not already been said…well obviously from my rating I loved this book: I couldn’t really put it down, got into the characters and story; it ticked a lot of boxes for me. Now I see what all the fuss is about!

Since finishing this I’ve been trying to think of anything I don’t like…and there’s nothing. Some characters might have done things I didn’t want them to do – but the actions fit with their personalities and so I have to accept maybe I’m just more of a romantic than I thought. Plus it meant I needed to read the other books – like now! 🙂

The plot, action, character development were all great – I guessed some twists but still wanted to read them happen which tells me this is a good book. I liked the parallel drawn with modern obsessions with reality tv with no real consideration given to young people being put before cameras and being ripped apart (figuratively) by judges. The society of haves and have-nots and the great chasms between them.

The first chapter or so it took a little getting used to the first person, present tense narration, but once over that it really started to flow.

(On the wider series): Throughout the trilogy I liked the references/comparisons (obvious and subtle) to the Roman Empire…you pick these up in the first book easily: arenas, tributes, bloodthirsty games to keep districts in line, fighting with tridents and nets… It’s also reflected in the description of the Panem world: each district supplies a particular product or commodity similar to the provinces of the Roman empire, for example, where Egypt was the “breadbasket of Rome”. As the books progress you see elements of the excesses of Roman society in the Capitol inhabitants, such as the feasting/vomiting piece. (According to Seneca, the Romans vomited so they could eat and they ate so they could vomit – who said food issues are a new problem!) I think Collins does a good job of blending these aspects of the Roman empire into The Hunger Games and for me it was a nice basis for the ‘world building’ of Panem – which she acknowledges in Mockingjay with the “Panem et Circenses” quote, which was originally said about Rome and referred to a government who appeased discontent in their citizens through simple, gratuitous recreation and entertainments…wonder what parallels there are to see in that for people in 2012? 🙂

So…overall a really good quality YA book – I didn’t want to put it down. I don’t do 5 star ratings often, but this definitely gets it.