JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The site is updated daily with information about every book, author, illustrator, and publisher in the children's / young adult book industry. Members include published authors and illustrators, librarians, agents, editors, publicists, booksellers, publishers and fans. Join now (it's free).
Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Hunger Games, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 25 of 110
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: Hunger Games in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
I have been saying for years that teen books provide great reads and fit into my life style so much better, because they are a quick literary fix. They remind me of buying a delicious gourmet frozen dinner – Pop it in the Microwave and voila you are happy and fed. They are shorter, faster-paced, and designed to appeal to discriminating readers.
Apparently, I am not the only one who feels this way, because many of the readers buying books aimed at the teen market are no longer teenagers. But the numbers are more dramatic than we may have guessed. According to the Bowker study, 55 percent of customers who buy young adult books are 18 or older. In fact, the largest group of readers purchasing titles labeled “young adult” are actually 30 to 44 years old – not the target demographic for the books.
The teen readers genre, which is officially slated for readers 12 to 17, has crossed age lines over the past decade as series like “Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling,” “Twilight by Stephenie Meyer,” and Suzanne Collins’ dystopian trilogy “Hunger Game”s have appealed to adults as well as the younger readers at which they were aimed.
Just look at the first 9 months of Amazon’s “best of the month” picks. It included a young adult title in its “Top 10 list” four times – not on a separate “young readers” list but as part of its overall survey of best titles available. “Every Day” by David Levithan was selected in September, while “Shadow and Bone” by Leigh Burdago made the June list. “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green cracked the January list and “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” by Laini Taylor made it to the September roll call.
This leads us to publishers who now have coined the phrase “New Adult”. The School Library Journal has a good article with links to a number of sites that discuss how they see “New Adult” fitting into the market. http://blogs.slj.com/teacozy/2012/12/28/what-is-new-adult
New market research shows that 55 percent of those buying books labeled ‘young adult’ are in fact 18 and over, a trend that’s increasing, so it is something you definitely should be aware of if you write for teens. Five years ago, editors wouldn’t even look at a book that had an eighteen year old on their way to college or making their way out in the adult world – more proof that things are changing and with that more opportunities for writers.
Rebecca Ryals Russell said, on 3/4/2013 7:53:00 AM
Great post, Kathy. I’m reposting on my blog verbatim with a link back here.
Tracey said, on 3/4/2013 6:59:00 PM
Things are changing quickly. I pitched a story to an agent at the NJSCBWI last year with a college-age main character. He told me that that age would not go over well with editors, and would I consider rewriting the character in High School instead. It’s very interesting that just a year later, his response might be different.
please click the following page said, on 3/5/2013 1:52:00 PM
Hello, I enjoy reading all of your article post. I wanted to
write a little comment to support you.
Other movies this year based on books/plays/classic tales include:
Bless Me, Ultima Jack Ryan Jack the Giant Slayer Jurassic Park 3D The Secret Life of Walter Mitty The Great Gatsby World War Z Much Ado About Nothing Carrie The Seventh Son
And based on comic books:
Iron Man 3 Man of Steel The Wolverine Thor: The Dark Worlds
0 Comments on Movies 2013 as of 1/16/2013 6:28:00 PM
For your weekend reading pleasure, here are our top stories of the week, including self-published bestsellers, Jack Daniel’s cease-and-desist and The Hunger Games flowchart (embedded above)
Over on 366 Random Acts of Kindness, Ryan is trying to spend five days below the poverty line. In researching his attempt, he discovered a cooperation between the publishers and producers of the Hunger Games books and films and the World Food Programme. Take the Hunger Games Quiz,and a hungry child will get food. It is that easy to help someone in need. Just take the quiz. And then, share the quiz with everyone you know.
If you want to have your view of how the world eats changed forever, join Ryan and his wife and thousands of others in the Live Below the Line Challenge. Try to live on $1.50 worth of food for 5 days. I think I ate $1.50 worth of cherries and grapes as a snack tonight! I am thinking about doing this - if I can get the Hub to go along. $1.50 doesn't even buy a half gallon of milk nowadays. Good luck to those who do try.
0 Comments on Hunger Games - Feed a Child as of 8/6/2012 8:50:00 PM
It's always so fun to do contests. It's actually one of the things that I love about having a blog is that I can give back to all the people who take the time to read Chocolate for Inspiration.
Thank you to everyone who entered the CAMP giveaway and I hope you enjoyed the interview by Elaine Wolf.
Don't forget, you still have five more days to enter my Hunger Games Contest here to win a movie size poster, the movie companion book and a lanyard.
I just got the ARC of LIAR & SPY by Rebecca Stead in the mail so I'll be reviewing that and giving that middle grade away soon. Plus I have four autographed books from four AMAZING authors that I met at the Ascendio conference I went to this summer. I plan to have that ready for you this Friday.
And tomorrow, it's Wednesday so I'll post my vlog for the YARebels. We get to choose our topic this week. Can you guess my topic?
Exciting times!
Okay, gotta go and write. I still haven't written my quota for today...
0 Comments on Winner of CAMP by Elaine Wolf and Upcoming Fun! as of 1/1/1900
With the Hunger Games DVD release this Saturday, your teens may have Panem fever all over again. This guest post offers just one way to celebrate the games before Catching Fire hits theaters.
On July 18, 2012, Stamford teens became tributes as they participated in a library summer event celebrating all things Hunger Games. We offered four teen summer programs this year (the others were a chocolate program, mendhi and ballroom dancing) and all were popular, but the Hunger Games event seemed to generate some special buzz among our teen volunteers and to attract some teens who aren’t regular program attendees. In the run up to the event, a number of the volunteers asked what the party would entail. When I gave them a summary of the planned events (and told them jokingly that no one was going to be killed), they said it sounded like fun, and a number of them registered to attend. An anxious Mom called the day before the program asking if it was too late for her daughter to participate. When she was told that we were happy to have her daughter join in, the mom was grateful and relieved, saying how much her daughter loved The Hunger Games and how much she was hoping to be able to come.
Of the 40 who registered, 28 showed up at the program (not a bad percentage in our experience), to be greeted as they entered the library’s auditorium by music from the Hunger Games movie, a librarian dressed in a Hunger Games tee shirt, a wild hair ornament and Capitol-style makeup (me), and other librarians and volunteers wearing badges identifying them as “Capitol Citizens”.
The teens were gathered and told they would undergoing a Reaping, not to determine who would be a tribute (they were all tributes), but to assign them to a district. Papers were available in a bowl, two strips with each district number. Extras were available so that additional teens could be accommodated. With 28 teens present, we ended up with 14 districts, two more than the 12 in the books. Pairing the teens in this random way meant that they couldn’t work with their friends, and when some of them protested, they were reminded, in the spirit of the Hunger Games, that tributes do not get to choose. As they received their district assignment, each teen was given a nametag, labeling them with the district number and the letter A or B. This became their identity for the Games.
The first activity was a ten-question trivia quiz. As the papers were distributed, the teens were told that we needed to test their knowledge of the history of the Games before they would be allowed to compete. The questions were multiple choice, so that teens who were less familiar with the books and movie would be able to guess, and would not be embarrassed by blank answers. It turned out that the questions were quite easy for the
serious fans; in fact ten of them got all ten questions correct. But there were some, less familiar with the series, who only got a couple of correct answers.
After the quiz, the tributes were assembled and told that their next task would be to style themselves for their parade in the Capitol. While they did this, volunteers graded the quizzes. The two tributes from each district had to coordinate their look and the tributes were reminded that it was important to impress the “Capitol Citizens.” Assisted by the volunteers and librarians, the teens had a lot of fun decorating themselves with the items provided; lipstick samples, garish eye shadows, face paints, glittery stickers, plastic leis
and inexpensive hair ornaments. Photos of citizen of the Capitol from the movie were on hand to give the teens ideas if needed. Even some of the boys got into the act, draping themselves in leis and swiping bars of col
Thanks to all who entered our The Hunger Games book trilogy sweepstakes and congratulations to our 12 winners, each of whom will receive a Kindle Fire and all three Hunger Games books in hardcover and Kindle book.
1. Erin K., Raynham, MA 2. Lori G., W. Nyack, NY 3. William G., Emmaus, PA 4. Miki B., San Francisco, CA 5. Donna A., Haverhill, MA 6. Becky H., Nashville, TN 7. Victoria K., Buzzards Bay, MA 8. Trina K., San Bernadino, CA 9. Matt B., Baltimore, MD 10. Lindsey K., Albuquerque, NM 11. Mike S., Andover, MN 12. Luke P., Amboy, IL
Also, just a reminder to check out our Hunger Games Store, which includes the books, apparel, and so much more!
This is not a hoax! This Katniss Barbie will come out August 1!!!!! How cool is that? Check out the official Barbie site to see how you can preorder it!
0 Comments on Most. Awesome. Barbie. Ever. as of 1/1/1900
Gary Ross, whose adaptation of "The Hunger Games" is the year's highest-grossing movie, said: "As a writer and a director, I simply don't have the time I need to write and prep the movie I would have wanted to make."
Francis Lawrence, whose previous films include "Water For Elephants" and "I Am Legend," will direct "Catching Fire," taking over the "Hunger Games" movie series from the director Gary Ross.
Margaret Atwood was interviewed for New York Magazine’s Vulture Blog and responded to questions about The Hunger Games, which Atwood seemed to not be very familiar with but felt was similar to a portion of her novel Year of the Flood.
So, basically it’s Painball fromYear of the Flood in which people are pitted against other people so other people can watch it on TV? And the origin of that of course is paintball, which is a real thing! It’s always nice to have people see the beauty of one’s ideas. I’m flattered. [Chuckles.] It sounds interesting. Some of these things go way back, mythologically.
0 Comments on Margaret Atwood on The Hunger Games as of 1/1/1900
The Ugandan recruiter of child soldiers was one of the most famous people in the Western world for a week or so in March, when the film Kony 2012 went viral. Then Kony was overtaken by Katniss as the name on everyone’s lips.
Kony is a real person; Katniss is fictional. Fame is one thing they have in common. Another is age. Katniss is the heroine of The Hunger Games, first in a trilogy of novels (now a film) for young adults; Kony 2012 was made for school kids. And another is that they have both become linked to social activism.
The narrator of Kony 2012 turned his documentary subject into a children’s story he was telling to his young son. In the process, key facts were left out or glossed over, and the film was heavily criticised for simplifying its subject.
The film-maker’s response (taken from an interview here)was that
We make films that speak the language of kids. We say, "You may live thousands of miles away from these problems in Uganda, but those kids are just like you, and you can do something to help them by getting your government and your self involved."
It may be underestimating, not to mention patronising, children to assume they can’t understand some background and context to the world’s problems. But it’s a laudable aim, to encourage young people to be interested in social injustices, empathise with those who are suffering, and desire to change the world for the better. Kony 2012 was intended to get viewers directly involved in a campaign to bring Joseph Kony to justice.
The Hunger Games is fiction, but with its themes of violence as entertainment and entertainment as social control, it also encourages readers to think about what’s wrong with the world now, and what it might become. And activists are trying to harness the popularity of this and similar books to effect real social and political change. Imagine Better is a project getting fans of Harry Potter and Katniss involved in real-world campaigning. It’s not alone; this article gives an excellent overview of the growing phenomenon of fan activism.
As a writer for children and young people, I'm fascinated by this spill-over from fiction into reality. Kony 2012 took fact and turned it into a children’s story. Here the opposite is happening; young literary fans are being asked to take the ideas and ideals contained in the
4 Comments on Read a book: change the world - Lily Hyde, last added: 5/20/2012
And the really scary thing is how the Kony business demonstrates the power of story. Millions swept up in what, when you stop and think rationally about it, is a call for Ugandans to invade a neighbouring country, and presumably to kill Kony's child soldiers. Story is a strong tool - hence the many instances of book burning through the ages. How does book burning translate into the world of the world wide web? Interesting. Thank you.
This is a great post, Lily. It's so true that good literature prompts us to think in ways that have an impact on the real world. The best, I think, don't contain a lesson but a prompt to thought. Where there is a clear stance (Narnia books, for instance) it's less effective than where it's up to the reader to think and decide - though obviously there is often tacit direction from the writer.
Excellent post, much to think about. I'm always aware of this when writing my children's books, a great responsibility.
Anonymous said, on 5/20/2012 6:55:00 PM
Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Jessica Alba, And Many Other. [url=http://www.articlesarefree.com/83310/prime-performers-whove-sat-naked/]articlesarefree[/url]
In addition to Fourth of July celebrations and picnics, when I was growing up, summer meant movies! And this year, Cyn and I have seen a lot more movies than usual. I'm not sure whether it's because they've gotten better or whether there are just more that we've been inclined to see (It could also be that movie theatres have gotten better). At the very least, this summer seems more blockbuster-y than usual. Here's the current run-down:
Of these, my definite favorites were The Hunger Games, The Avengers, and The Amazing Spider-Man.
The Hunger Games was, in general, a successful translation of the book to the screen. Cyn and I saw it twice and it was interesting to see audience reactions: The first time, a pair of adults came in with a group of kids. At certain of the more, err, brutal parts, we heard the adults gasp aloud (the kids -- who I assume had read the book -- seemed fine with it).
If you loved reading The Hunger Games, then the Lawrence Public Library in Kansas has compiled a massive flowchart to help you find the next book you should read.
The chart explores genre, plot elements and themes, helping you pinpoint what you liked most about the book. We’ve embedded the first part of the chart above, but follow this link to explore the complete five-panel infographic.
Here’s more from the library: “If you’re interested in learning about the history of the dystopian genre, check out this infographic from Goodreads which charts the popularity and major milestones of dystopian fiction. Not sure what makes a book “dystopian”? Check out this helpful chart from E M Bowman that isolates that traits of dystopian fiction. Feel free to share or print a copy for your library or classroom use. You can download the hunger games read alikes pdf here.”
Following in the footsteps of ABC Family and MTV (The CW just launched a free mobile app that lets fans stream full episodes of its current programming the next day. Given Millennials’ busy lives, we bet they’ll soon expect to access all their... Read the rest of this post
Have you heard there's a big new movie coming out?
I won't go into it too much, because if you have children, or a television, or you're one of the millions who loves the series, or you possess any of the senses, you probably know that The Hunger Games is opening at the end of the week.
Although I had nice things to say about it over the holidays, I'll refrain from discussing it in this Media Monday, lest you suffer from Hunger pangs. Or loss of appetite. Or maybe you don't care either way. This post will remain a Hunger-free Zone.
Still, it's nice to see a book get so much attention. As Young Adult Books Editor at Amazon, Jessica Schein said the other day, "There are books we all love, and books we can't put down, and then there are books that morph into cultural events." Well put, Jessica.
The New York Times takes us to court in this Sunday's Book Review. A review of Dale Carpenter's Flagrant Conduct: The Story of Lawrence v. Texas tells us that "Dale Carpenter’s Flagrant Conduct is a stirring and richly detailed account of Lawrence v. Texas, the momentous 2003 decision that overturned Bowers." The reference is to "Bowers v. Hardwick," a 1986 Supreme Court decision that is largely seen as a key ruling against the privacy of homosexuals. Reviewer David Oshinsky writes that the book "tells the story through the eyes of the major players — the plaintiffs, arresting officers, attorneys, judges and prosecutors — most of whom were interviewed at length. The result is a book that turns conventional wisdom about Lawrence on its head. Indeed, the readers most likely to be surprised by Flagrant Conduct are those who think they already know the basic outlines of the case."
Kevin Boyle calls Raymond Bonner's Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong "mesmerizing," describing first the grizzly 1982 murder that sets up the case, then describing the man who was sentenced to death for the crime, eventually telling us that this capital case, like so many, "was shaped by the fearsome combination of race and class." For years, the case was in and out of court. "Then, in the summer of 1993, [the] file ended up in the hands of Diana Holt, a law student working as an intern for the South Carolina Death Penalty Resource Center. And the case’s trajectory suddenly changed." Boyle that we watch as Holt "peels back the prosecution’s omissions, manipulations and deceits,
My daughter read the Hunger Games trilogy at 10 years old. My plan was to read it around the same time, but as usual, she raced through and devoured all three books before I could turn the first page. The movie opens Friday, and those of us with children in tow, are wondering: Is it OK for them to see it?
My friend, Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips, said Director Gary Ross “does not pump the action for cheap thrills or opportunities to stoke the audience’s blood lust.”
In other words, the movie will send chills at reasonable temperatures, not unlike the book.
According to Michael, “The film feels dramatically substantial but not inflated. A lot of it – the core of it, really – puts us on the ground, running, in the woods with Katniss, without much in the way of digital effects.”
Librarians and teachers know that seeing a movie made from a beloved book is a great way to make the characters and the plot come alive for young readers, and it creates a very real connection for them to reading, imagery and writing.
I’m letting my daughter, now 11, see the movie, not just because she loved the books almost as much as the Harry Potter series, but because she is inspired, even idolizes, the lead character, Katniss Everdeen, who is a great, strong female role model.
…is the first line in the book for a certain character. Do you know the character?*
Teens (and adults) in my library are all abuzz about the imminent opening of Hunger Games. Students who say they haven’t checked out a book in years are reserving the first book in Suzanne Collins’ dystopian trilogy because they want to know what all the fuss is about, and others are rereading it before the big premiere.
One such student inspired me to create a running countdown behind my desk, which she has helped me update each morning. (Mondays in particular were exciting, since the number dropped significantly from the previous week.) The countdown, in turn, gave me the idea to put on Hunger Games Trivia–and you can too!
I modeled my format after Stump! Trivia, a pub trivia quiz used across the country (which is particularly popular here in the Boston area). Players use the team sheet to keep track of their wagers and write down the categories for each quarter, or copy their answers to check later. Teams submit an answer sheet for each question, including their team name and wager. (Some trivia MCs are particularly vigilant about answer sheets remaining unfolded so that they can quickly tally points, but with a small group I don’t think it’s as much of an issue.)
You’ll see that the stakes get higher as the game progresses; correct answers in the first two rounds are worth 1, 3, 5 or 7 points, while answers in the second half net 2, 4, 6 or 8. I tried to keep my questions balanced between easy ones that even the casual reader would know and much tougher ones for diehard fans. The match-up bonus round was easy, but I had to resort to using a movie poster for the picture round.
For prizes, I’m using gift cards from Barnes & Noble (the Hunger Games-themed cards, naturally), AMC (good for even new releases, unlike some discount passes), and Dunkin’ Donuts (because New England runs on Dunkin’). To give everyone time to answer each question, I’ll be playing songs from a playlist I created on Grooveshark. (I keep most of my music on an external hard drive, so I figured this would be less cumbersome than playing directly from my iTunes library. My mix is… odd, but you could certainly pull songs from the movie soundtrack or try to match songs to themes from the book.)
Feel free to use any of the materials linked in this post, or modify them to create trivia sessions for other books that are popular in your library. (If you’re wondering where I got that awesome Hunger Games font, it’s from dafont.com, my go-to site for fonts.) What are you doing to celebrate the Hunger Games?
This first photo was was taken in Hawaii, this year. The second is a cliff in Ireland in 2002, I imagine it is still there. Hawaii has many cliffs similar to Ireland. The last photo reminded me of Hawaii, but it is in the Dominican Republic, 2010.
Beautiful scenery is always fun to gaze at, but it is the people we meet who make any trip interesting and worth remembering. The same goes for stories. Without characters our stories lack depth.
Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games, brings this into sharp focus. She has created a strange world, one with a perverse society that makes a cast system look like child's play. She flavors her pages with strong images of what the Capitol looks like versus the surrounding districts where people are starving, yet working nonstop to support the privileged at the Capitol. Uprising is long over-due. Sending children to fight each other to the death is a yearly festival for those at the Capitol.
Katniss Everdeen doesn't realize she is the spark that will propel a revolution she never thought possible. She is a teenager who supports her starving family by hunting for food in the woods, a place forbidden to go. She takes her sister's place at the Hunger Games and life is never the same - for anyone!
The long awaited movie will be released this weekend. It is bound to be a HUGE Hit. Suzanne Collins was very careful in choosing the perfect director for her story. Already there are dozens of trailers to promote the movie as well as guide books to familiarize yourself with the Hunger Games characters and the world they live in. I've already read two of the three books, so I'm pretty in-tune with the characters. Their world is fascinating, but it is them, Katniss, Peeta and Gale who bring this story to life. Just as any good character does!
Til next time ~
DL Larson
3 Comments on People Make The Difference! by DL Larson, last added: 3/25/2012
I've read the first of the trilogy (quite a while ago, when it first hit Kindle) and agree that the characters make the story. I previewed the second and third books, but didn't pursue them; I didn't think they had the promise of equaling the first.
I don't want to see the movie(s) as I prefer to remember the characters as I envisioned them. I'm a bit concerned at the number of young parents who are enthralled with the book and are considering taking their even younger children to the movie.
I wonder how the movie is rated ... I would not recommend the book for students under 16, yet I know many children younger are jumping on the bandwagon and reading it.
We have tons of wonderful resources at our fingertips to create an awesome environment for our teens. Maybe you’re chatting with others about what they’re doing for the Hunger Games release, or you’re scanning Pinterest for new craft ideas. You hear people talking about how such-and-such program was a huge hit, and you think, “I’ve got to try that. My teens will love it.” So you spend time and money planning this sure-fire program, or maybe you’re creating your own Teen Space so they have a place in the library that’s theirs, and the time has come for the big program, the big reveal … and no one comes.
We don’t get a lot of teens at my branch year-round. They come in the summer, and teen programs at my branch during the summer are a lot more successful than other times of the year. Summer, though, is not nearly long enough for everything we wish we could do with our teens, and other times of the year are hit-or-miss, emphasis on the miss. The last teen program we had, no one but two middle-schoolers came, and while we didn’t turn them away, everything we had planned kind of went out the window. Summer aside, this happens time and time again, so we’ve cut our teen programming to once a quarter, which we know sucks, but with one librarian for birth to 18, it’s hard to justify spending more time and money on programs that are constantly unsuccessful.
But we keep trying. Different programs at different times on different days of the week. These kids are busy, and we have to compete for their attention. We keep trying to cultivate relationships with the teens we see during the summer to get them coming back the rest of the year. Our YA collection is fairly awesome, and our circs are good. We know that what works even at a different branch may not work for us. We go back to old programs that flopped years ago because it might work for this group of teens. And even if no one comes to the mini-Ren Faire we have coming up, I’m still dressing up, even if I have to joust with my co-workers. If teens are scarce in your library, leave a message in the comments with what you’re doing to draw them in.
After a long wait, Bieber’s new single ‘Boyfriend’ is here (and we like the more mature sound that has been compared to Justin Timberlake. Sure, the lyrics are a little cheesy and will probably make tween girls swoon, but the song is more... Read the rest of this post
I went to see The Hunger Games movie when it came out this past Friday--but don't worry, I won't review it. Other people will do that a-plenty. It was good. Let's move on.
What I really wanted to share was not the actual movie watching experience, but my wait in line for tickets. We went early, my tween posse and I, hair in braids and super-excited. I was fully expecting to find a crowd of t(w)eens and parents, since the book is YA and all.
Guess again.
Cool observation #1: The majority of people in the theater were adults, male and female in equal amounts. We outnumbered the under-18 crowd, big time... Now remember, this is a YA.
Cool observation #2: Every single person in line that I talked to had read the book. One man my dad's age confessed he read the first book, then went back the next day to buy the other two.
Cool observation #3: There was a 9 a.m. showing just for the local school kids. Teachers are tying reading into movies--what a smart way to get everyone's nose in a book.
Coolest moment? Having a crowd of thirty-or-so people of all ages talk about a YA book. Not about the movie, but about the book. Your readers are at the movie theater. Pretty cool, huh?
0 Comments on Where Your Readers Are as of 1/1/1900
Overall, I find that movies rarely live up to the book *glares at Twilight*, though I loved the cinematic version of The Help. Along with most everyone else, I devoured THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy by Suzanne Collins and couldn't wait for the movie. I saw it last night with my nephew (who also loved the trilogy) and my sister-in-law (who didn't read the books and was hesitant about a story filled with teens killing each other.)
Did the movie live up to the hype? I thought the movie rocked. The casting was great--Katniss and Peeta were perfect, and Rue couldn't have been more adorable. And Lenny Kravitz as Cinna? One word: yum. Of course, a movie can't capture all the nuances of character and setting the way a book can (I wanted more of Haymitch in the movie), so if you haven't read the book, I highly recommend reading it before going to the movie. My nephew gave it a huge thumbs up as well. As for my non-YA reading sister-in-law, she was surprised by how much she liked it and said there wasn't nearly as much graphic killing as she thought there would be. We also voted on the method of death we would least prefer and "the evil mechanical dogs" was the unanimous winner.
Have you seen THE HUNGER GAMES yet? What did you think?
2 Comments on Have You Seen THE HUNGER GAMES Yet?, last added: 3/27/2012
Overall, I find that movies rarely live up to the book *glares at Twilight*, though I loved the cinematic version of The Help. Along with most everyone else, I devoured THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy by Suzanne Collins and couldn't wait for the movie. I saw it last night with my nephew (who also loved the trilogy) and my sister-in-law (who didn't read the books and was hesitant about a story filled with teens killing each other.)
Did the movie live up to the hype? I thought the movie rocked. The casting was great--Katniss and Peeta were perfect, and Rue couldn't have been more adorable. And Lenny Kravitz as Cinna? One word: yum. Of course, a movie can't capture all the nuances of character and setting the way a book can (I wanted more of Haymitch in the movie), so if you haven't read the book, I highly recommend reading it before going to the movie. My nephew gave it a huge thumbs up as well. As for my non-YA reading sister-in-law, she was surprised by how much she liked it and said there wasn't nearly as much graphic killing as she thought there would be. We also voted on the method of death we would least prefer and "the evil mechanical dogs" was the unanimous winner.
Have you seen THE HUNGER GAMES yet? What did you think?
Also, just a quick note that we'll be posting a little less frequently here (once or twice a week) due to general life craziness. Hope everyone has a great Spring Break!
3 Comments on Have You Seen THE HUNGER GAMES Yet?, last added: 3/27/2012
Jennifer--I would agree with that. My sister-in-law asked me questions after the movie about the motivations of certain characters and about the events. It's so hard for a movie to provide all of the backstory that a book does.
I saw it twice opening weekend! Loved it but had a few quibbles. I detailed it in a blog post but mostly I felt some parts were rushed and could've used relationship development.
Michele Howe Clarke talks to me about the fine art of “Facing Forward” after living through an unusual bout of cancer that left her disfigured, but not discouraged. W.A.R., author, Matt de la Pena talks about his recent trip to Tucson, AZ, and what it feels like having your well-received novel pulled from the bookshelves. Lastly, author Zetta Elliott, sheds light on the Trayvon Martin case – the not so fun reaction to the HUNGER GAMES movie; as well as some highlights from her latest novel, SHIP OF SOULS.
I have been saying for years that teen books provide great reads and fit into my life style so much better, because they are a quick literary fix. They remind me of buying a delicious gourmet frozen dinner – Pop it in the Microwave and voila you are happy and fed. They are shorter, faster-paced, and designed to appeal to discriminating readers.
.jpg?picon=1806)
0 Comments on Independence Day, Summer Movies, and Fireworks! as of 1/1/1900
.jpeg?picon=3075)
Great post, Kathy. I’m reposting on my blog verbatim with a link back here.
Things are changing quickly. I pitched a story to an agent at the NJSCBWI last year with a college-age main character. He told me that that age would not go over well with editors, and would I consider rewriting the character in High School instead. It’s very interesting that just a year later, his response might be different.
Hello, I enjoy reading all of your article post. I wanted to
write a little comment to support you.