A Tribute to The Hunger Games Trilogy - The Books #THGTrilogy

Our 100 days of Mockingjay celebration burns on! This week we're honoring the place where it all began: Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy.

 
Suzanne Collins created The Hunger Games from an idea born of late night channel surfing between real war coverage and reality television. Suzanne, the daughter of a career military man and Vietnam Veteran, has said that she wanted to write an age-appropriate war story for every age group. The Hunger Games is her war story for young adults. The trilogy's themes of poverty, socio-economic disparity, government corruption, propaganda, revolution, redemption, and the consequences of war mirror events in our current society.

The Hunger Games means different things to different people. For some, Katniss Everdeen is a strong and inspiring female role model, and for some she inspires as a survivor of poverty and PTSD. She's complicated, imperfect, damaged and an incredibly compelling lead character.

Some people adore the love stories. Suzanne wrote interesting, complex relationships without a typical fairytale ending in the lot: Katniss and Peeta, Katniss and Gale, Finnick and Annie, even Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen.

As we've seen throughout this 100 Days of MJ project, The Hunger Games means much more to people than a series of novels or a movie franchise. Seven of the ten most highlighted Kindle passages ever are from The Hunger Games trilogy, and The Hunger Games is the third most highlighted book OF ALL TIME, eclipsed only by The Bible and Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. 

How You Can Participate This Week:


Suzanne's words are compelling and powerful, meaningful and resonant. We want to honor those words this week by asking you to share your favorite Hunger Games book quote or passage in a visual way. Take a quote that has made an impact on you and make an edit, write it out, take a photo – the possibilities are endless. Let your imagination run wild. Just feature the words of THG in a visual way and use the hashtag #THGTrilogy to share it on social media. 

We are partnering with our friends at Everlarked & Always (who made the beautiful edit above) this week. They'll also be sharing some of your tagged work on their Tumblr blog Everlarked & Always, so be sure to follow.

GIVEAWAY:

We can't have a new theme without a new giveaway. This week (Wed, Sept 9 - Tues, Sept 14th) ONE winner will receive:

A boxed set of The Hunger Games trilogy foil editions 

A set of 5 Mockingjay pins: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1, the new Mockingjay Part 2 pin that was given away at Comic-Con and a black Mockingjay pin (5 pins in total).  

Enter the giveaway through the widget below. Sharing a photo on social media is not required to enter, nor does it count as an entry BUT it sure is fun, and we can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

 

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#THGTrilogy Throwback - Suzanne Collins On The Hunger Games & Much More

Back in 2009 and 2010, author Suzanne Collins sat down to discuss The Hunger Games and some of the inspirations behind the trilogy. We don't see too much of Suzanne in the press so these interviews are a real treat.

There are 13 interviews in this playlist and Suzanne talks about everything from her favorite subject in school to the most difficult and best aspects of writing The Hunger Games. Plus a bonus more recent video from 2012.

Video 12 in the series is a real gem. Suzanne reads from the first chapter of Mockingjay and even does what she envisions as Katniss' District 12 accent.

Sit In On A College Class About 'The Hunger Games'

Think about anything else that day? Fat chance.

I’d been waiting for this for over six months.

Before I left college for summer, I enrolled in a Young Adult Literature class for the fall semester. The title is all I needed to hook me. What made it better? The book list we were required to read.

Number four on that list? The Hunger Games.

The day of class arrived. Barely keeping calm, I poked my Mockingjay earrings into my ears. I braided my hair (well, the best braid I can manage with hair that is as thin as tissue paper and only shoulder-length). I grabbed my bag, making sure a notebook and functioning pen came with me.

When I made my way to campus, I passed a few people. I caught them looking at me a second longer than they probably should have. “Who invited Katniss Everdeen?” The question reflected in their eyes; pride reflected in mine.

I was the first to get to class. I carefully placed my supplies on my desk, waiting for the company of my best friend, who turned me on to the novels in the first place. Soon, she was seated beside me half-shaking her head at my eagerness, half-fangirling over it. As others began to file in, I could not keep the smile off my face. A few who knew me better than the others asked me, “You’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you?” Ha, waiting. More like living for it. 

My professor made his way to the front of the class, cranking up the computer and old, semi-haunted projector. Finally, it was time to kick this into high gear.

“So,” my professor began. “The Hunger Games.” He paused. “Thumbs-up, thumbs-down? So-so?”

Every thumb in the room shot up to the ceiling. Soon, a three-finger salute went up and a Mockingjay whistle broke the silence from behind me.

This was going to be great.

We began with our professor giving us general information he had researched about the series. Soon, we broke off into groups, with a list of discussion topics we'd formulated as a class. Later, we came together as a whole and went over the discussion topics even deeper.

I never volunteered (ooh, puns!) so much in a class. Throughout the class, I was able to provide my professor and classmates with additional information about the events in the book series, Suzanne Collins, her inspiration for the novels, the movie franchise, and even the theme park. (Yep, that’s still a thing.)

Those two and a half hours were some of the best ones I spent at college. I could feel how much I belonged in that room, with those people. The love I had for this series only burned brighter upon my exit.

Since you couldn't be there with me, I'm sharing the notes I took in the class. First is the general information my professor brought to our attention. Second are the discussion topics that took up the meat of the class. What would you want to talk about in a class session completely dedicated to The Hunger Games? Sound off in the comments.

Click to read more ...

Take The Hunger Games Quote Poll

The Hunger Games was released on September 14, 2008. To mark the anniversary of the book's release, we've got a Hunger Games trilogy book quote poll for you. Which one of these is quotes your favorite from The Hunger Games trilogy? 

Didn't find your favorite quote in the poll? Tell us yours in the comments below!

Be sure to enter our #THGTrilogy giveaway. You could win a set of FIVE Mockingjay pins and a boxed set of The Hunger Games foil edition books. Ends Tues, Sept. 15th at 8pmET. 

Real or Not Real image by Papofglencoe

That's What You and I do Edit by Unicorn-Feelings 

Dandelion in the spring gif

A Parent's Perspective on The Hunger Games Trilogy

By Barb Kubiak

Awesome custom THG Books by Juniper Designs

Most parents would cringe - a book about kids killings kids?  Who would write something like that?  I’ll tell you who.  An author I greatly respect.  She is a master at her craft. One who has penned a story that will draw you in from the first few pages and shine a light on the parallels of her dystopian world to the one in which we currently live.  And amazingly, it is done with such talent, that not only do young adult readers identify with it, but parents see the glaring similarities as well. 

               

The Hunger Games recommendation came from my oldest son when school strongly pushed extra time for reading. Fortunately, this series pulled him in.  It is a great book for boys, especially at an age when getting them to read, is a challenge.  In turn, I continued to read the books aloud a chapter at a time, with my other two kids.  And I admit, I went ahead at the very end of Catching Fire - the suspense was killing me! 

               

As a parent reading these books, I wonder different things.  How on Earth would I handle not only my 12-year-old being reaped, but what did I do as a parent to make my older daughter then volunteer in her place?  Did I do a good job as a parent or am I being punished?  This is a lose-lose situation.  How do you go on?  How do you say good-bye knowing there is a great chance she will not return? Required to watch?  How can you do that?  What parent wants to watch their child suffer or worse, perish?  Every death in the games is a better chance for your child to return.  Is it selfish that you are happy others are dead?  How do you celebrate knowing so many others have died for them to win?  These questions continue throughout the trilogy.  How?  What?  Why?

 

Then there’s the government.  How did this happen?  Who allowed it to happen?  And is it really that farfetched?  Perhaps the Hunger Games themselves might be.  But as a parent immersed in the education field, I see lots of things changing for our youth in schools.  It worries me.  I wonder what kind of adults we are producing.  Is there enough civics education?  Do our kids know history and the atrocities we have witnessed?  If we continue as we are, is a dystopian type world what we may find in our future?  We are living in a society where the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer.  There are people living in the streets while others have so much they don’t know what to do with it.  We have people creating policies and laws who are so out of touch with the people they are making them for.  Not unlike the Capitol.  Katniss and Peeta witness this themselves on their ride to the Capitol.   Effie shows how out of touch she is by focusing on the manners they possess - not even realizing they are near starving or that the amount and type of food will be overwhelming to them.   And it’s not her fault; it’s simply all she knows.  She is the epitome of classic, ignorant bliss.  We also read about the activity in the Capitol that we see.  The citizens of the Capitol are betting on the tributes, the commotion going on in the streets the night before the games begin, Caesar Flickerman and the outrageous clothes. Its reality TV gone mad! The clear liquid that allows you to keep eating despite some of the surrounding districts having barely enough food.   It makes you question what you think you know about government and the world we live in.

 It’s been 5 years since I read the books.  I take any opportunity I can to talk about them.  I got stopped in the grocery store last week with “I was thinking about you the other day. I started reading The Hunger Games.  And I’m so tired because I couldn’t put it down!”  I’m proud of that.  I am ok with having my name associated with this trilogy.  It has been thought provoking for my family and me.  It connected us and still does.  Almost daily a quote comes up that is from the books or movies - no matter how trivial.  We laugh, we debate and discuss.  I think it is amazing that Suzanne Collins has written a series that has brought so many fans together.

  

 

It’s political in the end.  I think adolescent girls enjoy the love triangle.  As a parent- it didn’t matter all that much to me.  (I‘ll admit I really wanted Katniss to be with Gale-he supported her until the end.  But I understand why it had to be Peeta.) The master writing that Collins exhibits is unmatched in any other series.  I read other YA series.  Great stories but the writing is not the same.   THG writing is top notch.  This is evidenced in the history, the mythology, the plant references.  They all make up the details that set the trilogy apart.  It educates while entertaining.  I truly believe this trilogy was written on different levels - one for adolescents and one for adults.  The themes examined go much deeper than a “love triangle” and the “kid killing kids” tag.   Anyone who can move beyond that will surely come to realize this is a story about much more.

 

 

 

 

 

***I do have to acknowledge James Newton Howard’s original scores for the franchise.  What an amazing gift they have been for the fans.  They have really had an impact on me as my kids all play string instruments.  If only I could find the right sheet music and persuade the orchestra teachers to teach them!

You can find the beautiful custom Hunger Games Trilogy books in the post at Juniper Books.