The Hunger Games

This post is written to honor this amazing series. 

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These books, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay are what I believe to be the new Harry Potter Phenomenon. Remember when the first movie came out? When Dumbledore died? When we all cheered for Harry as he goes and tries to defeat Voldemort? Cried when Sirius died? Around the world, you would find people of all ages reading these books, and now, it's The Hunger Games.
    The first book came out in 2008, and I remember getting it from the library and I couldn't stop reading it. What I loved so much about it was the relationship between Katniss and Peeta, and it's what kept me reading the whole series. I wanted to know what happened to them. They had this complicated relationship,  that was fueled by lies only meant to save their lives, and Katniss never thinks she could fall for the boy with the bread.
    Then, in 2009, Catching Fire arrived in bookstores, and I remember getting it at the library as well and tearing through it in one day. I only stopped reading to eat, and again, Katniss and Peeta's complicated relationship kept me going, along with the disaster of the Quarter Quell. At the end, I wanted nothing more than to rip of President Snow's head, because he had ruined everything, and Katniss began to realize how much she had started to fall for Peeta, which fuels the entire third novel.
   And in 2010, the astonishing Mockingjay was launched, and everyone dashed to bookstores (including me! No library this time!) to pick up their copy. I started reading it in the car on the way home, and finished it that night. In this novel, you finally see the depth of Katniss' feeling for both Peeta and Gale. How she is torn between them and doesn't know where she stands. The ending is one of my favorites, but I wish it had been longer. I wanted another whole book for the epilogue.
   I recently reread all of them, and I have fallen back in love with these characters. I have grown to love Katniss and admire her courage and talent, and have fallen back in love with Peeta, forever the boy with the bread. I have remembered how sorry I felt for Gale, because nothing he could do would compete with Peeta. I fell back in love with Prim and her caring heart, and Finnick made me laugh again.

   When I finished Mockingjay, I was crying - not because it was sad - but because it was beautiful. The story was over, and the characters had become people to me. Now, I see a bird high in the sky and think, "Katniss could kill that", and walk by a bakery and think of Peeta behind the counter, handing Katniss the bread all those years before the stories started. And wonder where Finnick and Annie would belong, and who Prim would marry. I went into what I call "Hunger Games Withdrawl" because I couldn't stop thinking about the books. Last night I had to reread the ending of Mockingjay just to fall asleep. These books have become part of me again, and I love them for that.

And now there will be a movie! Can you believe that? Our favorite characters will be up on screen, and the whole world will cheering for Katniss and Peeta, falling in love with them all over again, crying at every death, and astonded at the girl on fire.
   The only thing left to say is:

May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor