the hunger games

i love so much about the hunger games books. i love that an entire houston charter school is reading them 6th-8th at the same time. i love that it gets kids to love books and the imaginary world. i love that the hero is impoverished, with an unstable family, little education, and at first glance, not much hope for change for the next generation-except escaping illegally or dying.

way to go, suzanne collins. you should win a medal of some kind.

and yes, i agree with my roommate who sometimes says she's disturbed how popular such a gruesome subject has become. but in the the acknowledgements section from the author, collins talks about how she was inspired by her father's stories of war and peace and government. suzanne collins, with a young adult crazy popular book series, has brought to the forefront of trendy culture the subject of democracy, justice, and freedom. if you do not care about voting, or local policies, or current events, well, many would argue you're assisting in the breakdown of america.

katniss and her friends and family live under an oppressive, unfair government, and they are willing to die to change things. in america and many other countries across the globe, we are not at the point where it takes a life to change things. we are able to use our intellect and volunteer time and careers to influence and determine our politicians. We are able to fight for justice without dying for it. We are able to choose our fate in a much more real way than Katniss and the people of her story.

It takes a lot to get twenty-somethings - or middle schoolers - to appreciate their government, and their voice as part of it. But suzanne collins has done it, and for that, my hat goes of to her. i think her books will have positive, lifechanging effects on hundreds, if not thousands of people. And if you think i'm exaggerating, you can think about my delilah (extremely bright student from last year, often unguided and unfocused). think about when she will read this book in a few years, and how she will identify with the main character. she has dirty clothes, is often hungry, cannot speak to her father because he's dead, her mother is doing her best but not around as much as she'd like, she has no money, those around her do not have jobs that fulfill them or bring them joy - in general, struggling. but the girl in the book's story is one of triump, of perseverance through challenges (although exaggerated to the extreme), of love for her community, and for herself. the girl in the book's story is empowering, full of hope and excitement and sadness that builds character.

i hope that delilah reads it and sees the same for her life. because unlike tv shows, or even movies that i love, books stick with you: books open your mind and grow your brain and get your feet moving.

the reader cannot help but chant "go katniss go" under their breath while they read it. i hope delilah will read it and walk away chanting for herself, a similar brave girl who learns to believe in herself. go, delilah, go!

*though i love the hunger games as much as any other books i've ever read, i must say i would have rather suzanne collins released them when i was still young enough to spend my evenings (after daylight savings time, yahoo!) playing with my brother in our backyard and playing imaginary games. we would have imagined the heck out of hunger games. i would have made a great katniss, and he could have been gale and president snow and all the other characters. and, let's be honest, i would have totally made him play rue. tiptoeing around the backyard, pretending he's a young girl with birdlike features? oh yea, he'd have done it.