Hungry

I finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins over the weekend. It's a really engaging story and one of the aspects I liked most is that you know Katniss is going to the Hunger Games (otherwise you wouldn't have a story) so Collins doesn't take ages to get her there. I appreciate that. Oftentimes authors will build and build and build to a plot point we already know is going to happen but Collins doesn't do that. Katniss lives in a future America (after the collapse of the United States), in one of the poorest districts of Panem, the new country. Every year, two teenagers, a boy and a girl between 12 and 18, are chosen from each district to participate in the Hunger Games. The Games are a fight to the death for the entertainment of those who live in the Capitol (as a means to remind the 12 districts outside of the Capitol of a war 74 years ago in which the Capitol destroyed the no longer existing 13th District). So Katniss goes with a boy from her district and they get pampered and powdered and fed and fluffed the week prior to the Games and then are thrown into the Arena (a recreation of a wilderness, with a few surprises) to fight it out. This is when the book starts to get a little gruesome. Nearly half of the 24 tributes are dead after the first day. Katniss must survive on her wits and her skills. The first book of a planned trilogy, The Hunger Games is a great read (Collins has a way of ending chapters so you want to turn the page to start the next chapter; it's nearly irresistible), though I have to admit I was a little disappointed to find there are two more books planned. I think it would have been a remarkable novel on its own but I'll definitely read the next one to see what she has in store next. Reminded me a little of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies; definitely for middle schoolers and up because of the gore.
Just started Meg Cabot's Airhead and I'm not sure I'm going to like the new Emerson Watts (but then I'm not sure Emerson Watts will like the new Emerson Watts); I feel I would have gotten along with the old one just fine. In between reads, I remain, the Savage Librarian.