The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins is a book that I see in all the stores I go to. Because of this, I figured it was popular, but I didn't think I'd like it. My sister Katie was reading it and asked me to read it so she'd have someone to talk about it with.

I thought it was pretty good. It's about a girl, Katniss, who lives in a very poor district in Panem, which is what used to be the United States. Her father died in a mine, so Katniss has to support her family by illegally hunting. Every year the Capitol puts on "The Hunger Games," a contest in which two people are chosen from each of the 12 districts to compete in a survival test. Only one of the 24 survives.

I won't give the rest away, but the book was pretty good. It reminded me a lot of the short story "The Lottery" because of how the participants are chosen and the movies "The Truman Show" and "The Even Stevens Movie" because of the contrived reality show aspect of the games.

If you like action and suspense, this is a good book for you.

AR 5.3/15 pts

After

by Amy Efaw started out really good. A baby is found in a trash can and luckily it's still alive. The police go door-to-door to try to find who put it there. They find Devon, a top student and athlete who has stayed home "sick" from school. She doesn't remember anything.

The book follows Devon through her arrest, her incarceration, and her trial.

I thought it was a little slow through the middle and some of the characters didn't seem to have a purpose to me, but overall, After was a good book.


AR 4.7/14 pts