"May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor"

The Hunger Games - by Suzanne Collins

"Winning will make you famous.
Losing means certain death."

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Copyright: 2008 by Suzanne Collins
Pages: 384

These are all the awards and nominations that this book has received:
#1 USA Today Bestseller
#1 New York Times Bestseller
#1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller
#1 Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A People magazine (Top 10) Best Book of 2009
A Time Magazine Best Fiction Book of 2009
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009
A Kirkus Best Book of 2009
A 2009 Booklist Editors' Choice

This book is classified as a young adult fiction book and is appropriate for readers who are around the grade levels of 7-9. It all depends on how sensitive the readers are and where they are at skill wise. Obviously people above these grade levels can read it and it is a great read. It is the first book in the trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The other books are Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

Summary
In this book, the main character, Katniss Everdeen, offers herself as tribute in place of her younger sister. Every year they pick two tributes from each of the twelve districts to represent those districts in the Hunger Games. These games take place in Capitol where all of the rich people reside. The reason the Hunger Games are held each year are as a reminder that the Capitol won the war between the districts. Katniss and another boy from District 12, Peeta Mellark, set out for the Capitol in hopes of winning the Hunger Games and returning back to see their families; however, there are many challenges that they will face along the way in trying to accomplish this goal.

Usage in Classrooms
You could use this book many different ways in a classroom, but the way I would use it would be a little different. October is usually the month of Bullying Awareness and I would use this book during that time because it shows a really good lesson about friendship. All friendships, no matter how long or short they are, change us forever. I think that this is a great lesson for students to know and understand. They need to see that everyone is equal to them and that no matter what, others deserve the same amount of respect. By being kind to others, friendships may grow that we may not have expected, but it could be lasting friendships. There are multiple examples in the book of examples of friendships and different types. Some may be based on the situation at hand while others are formed long before.

Rating System
Below is the rating system that I have completed for this book.

                                  <3 <3 <3                      <3  <3                           <3                          NO <3

Rating System
Theme	If the theme is well developed and the message is portrayed very clearly.	The theme makes sense; however, it could be more developed.	The message is hard to find in the story and there isn’t much of a theme to go off of.	There isn’t a theme at all.
Plot	The plot is very well developed and everything flows smoothly.	The plot has a few gaps, but the story still is capable of moving along.	The plot has gaps that makes it hard to move the story along.	There is no plot in this book.
Characters	All the characters are developed well in the story.	There is more detail that could be added to the characters.	Characters are very poorly developed.	Characters aren’t developed at all.
Setting	The setting is described in detail and is necessary for the story to make sense.	The setting is described alright and still is needed to help the story make sense.	The setting is described alright, but it isn’t needed to help the story move along.	The setting provided is not necessary for the story to occur.
Illustrations	The illustrations are very detailed and help move the story along.	The illustrations are good, but don’t help the story move along.	The illustrations aren’t the best.	There are no meaningful illustrations at all.

Theme: <3 <3 <3 - I rated the theme with three hearts because I thought that all of the themes found within were very well developed and maintained throughout the story. There weren't any things that questioned the theme and they were all very meaningful. A few of the themes I found were friendship, love, inequality, suffering, and defiance.
Plot: <3 <3 <3 - I rated the plot with three hearts because I thought that everything was described in great detail and the story line moved along very well. There were times that a lot of background information was given that was very helpful in understanding the story. This was in the case of the explanation of why the Hunger Games are around and how they began. 
Characters: <3 <3 <3 - I rated the characters three hearts because they were all developed well and contributed to the story. There weren't any characters that were just there and that didn't add depth to the story. Every character had their own reasons of being where they were and having the experiences that they did. I thought they all fit well together within this story.
Setting: <3 <3 <3 - I rated the setting three hearts because it was a very creative setting and place for all of this to occur. It was definitely outside of the box thinking that was used to create Panem and the districts involved. Every district was known for something else and it was described well. There were multiple settings that happened within this book and in my opinion all of them were necessary in having the story make sense.
Illustrations: No <3 - Obviously in this book there weren't any illustrations because it is a young adult fiction book; however, it was very easy to create images and illustrations in my head based off of the diction that was used throughout the book. I read this book before I watched the movie and my imagery was a little different than the movie but it was fun creating my own imagery throughout.

I would definitely recommend this book because it was a really creative and fun book to read. There were moments when you are at the edge of your seat and just cannot put the book down. It is a thrill to experience!!

Blog Introduction

Welcome to my Children's Literature Review Blog. My name is Gina Kowalchuk and I am currently a junior at the University of Great Falls. I am originally from Canada and got a golf scholarship to attend this school. Golf has always been a big part of my life and I am really excited to change that focus onto teaching. I am majoring in Elementary Education and am wanting to teach students from grades 3-6. I loved to read as a kid and I think that is an important quality for a teacher to have because in order to make students love to read, you need to desire reading as well. My favorite books growing up were the "Berenstain Bears" books because they were easy for me to relate to. There were real world problems for kids in these books that makes them excited to read because they think its cool to be like these characters.


Going into teaching, my goals are to get students to "want" to read rather than feeling like they need to read. By instilling this core motivation into them, it will help them succeed in and out of the classroom. I also plan to help students in any way that I can to gain confidence and a love for reading.

My Children's Literature Blog is going to be set up two different ways. I am going to be using grade levels to determine the reading levels of the books that are going to be reviewed. This is going to be kept consistent in order to compare the different books that will be found on here. It will also help to get a diverse amount of books from different grade levels. The rating system of this blog is based on a heart rating system. Each topic that will be discussed will be judged based on three hearts. If it meets the requirements provided, then it will get three; however, if there are things missing, then the review will be based on the elements shown. Here is the rating system rubric that I will be going off of each week:

                                       <3 <3 <3                   <3 <3                          <3                     No <3

Rating System
Theme	If the theme is well developed and the message is portrayed very clearly.	The theme makes sense; however, it could be more developed.	The message is hard to find in the story and there isn’t much of a theme to go off of.	There isn’t a theme at all.
Plot	The plot is very well developed and everything flows smoothly.	The plot has a few gaps, but the story still is capable of moving along.	The plot has gaps that makes it hard to move the story along.	There is no plot in this book.
Characters	All the characters are developed well in the story.	There is more detail that could be added to the characters.	Characters are very poorly developed.	Characters aren’t developed at all.
Setting	The setting is described in detail and is necessary for the story to make sense.	The setting is described alright and still is needed to help the story make sense.	The setting is described alright, but it isn’t needed to help the story move along.	The setting provided is not necessary for the story to occur.
Illustrations	The illustrations are very detailed and help move the story along.	The illustrations are good, but don’t help the story move along.	The illustrations aren’t the best.	There are no meaningful illustrations at all.