The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Every year, the Capitol of Panem requires that each District send two tributes (a boy and a girl, aged 12 to 18) to participate in the yearly Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games is reality television at its most extreme—a live telecast of 24 children battling for their lives in an enclosed arena. The tributes will face wild animals, natural (and unnatural) disasters, hunger, and most dangerous of all, one another. Only one tribute will survive. The Hunger Games is at once a form of punishment for the Districts and invaluable entertainment for the Capitol.

This year, in place of her 12-year-old sister, Prim, Katniss Everdeen of District 12 has volunteered to go to the Hunger Games. In the history of the Hunger Games, only two winners have come from District 12—and for good reason. District 12 is the poorest and most neglected of the Capitol’s districts and its tributes have always been at a distinct disadvantage compared to the well-fed, well-trained tributes of wealthier districts. With the odds against her, Katniss must fight to survive and to retain her humanity in the mounting inhumanity of the Games and the Capitol.

The Hunger Games is an absolutely thrilling read. With a true voice, an extremely likable protagonist, conspiracies, action, and intellectual depth and maturity, The Hunger Games is a truly stellar book. Everyone will find something to like in The Hunger Games. Readers may find echoes of books such as Ender’s Game, The Handmaid’s Tale, Graceling, and Battle Royale in the novel, but Suzanne Collins has made The Hunger Games distinct and marvelous in its own right. The only complaint I have is that I won’t be able to get my hands on the sequel, Catching Fire, quickly enough. Although Katniss is a female protagonist, I am sure both boys and girls will find themselves enthralled by the book. And though readers of action-fantasy will particularly enjoy the book, I believe its appeal so wide that I would hesitate to pigeonhole its potential readers.

Collins, Suzanne. Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press, 2008. Print.

Candor by Pam Bachorz

Candor, Florida is more than the perfect place to live: it is the answer to all your problems. Have an eating disorder, drug addiction, or rebellious teenager? Not to worry, come to Candor and within weeks the deformities of your previous, imperfect life will vanish, free will and all.

At Candor, everyone is happy and no one wants to leave. In fact, the waiting list to move into Candor is years-long. That’s the way Campbell Banks, founder of Candor, wants it. And that’s the way he intends to keep it.

The only teen who knows the secret of Candor’s brainwashing Messages is Campbell Banks’s son, Oscar. He’s also the only person, besides his father, who knows how to fight the subliminal brainwashing that occurs everywhere and every second in Candor. Oscar himself is a minor celebrity at Candor, and he uses it as a cover for his more nefarious dealings in Candor: helping rich, new kids leave. No one suspects Oscar, model teen, until the arrival of Nia Silva, an exciting and individualistic artist. Nia’s free-spirited ways makes Oscar want to keep her close to him, at the risk of revealing his dangerous secret.

And it is a dangerous secret: those who rebel, who cannot be controlled by the Messages, are sent to the Listening Room, where their minds are erased, with horrific side effects. Things unravel out of Oscar’s meticulous control as the couple hurtles towards tragedy, and Oscar finds himself forced to make tough decisions, ones that might cost him his mind and his free will.

Readers of dystopic fiction might find Pam Bachorz’s Candor interesting with its social criticism and resemblance to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. The characters are realistic and well-developed, but somehow the romance between Nia and Oscar seem forced and unnatural. While the last hundred pages or so are gripping and thoroughly engrossing, the novel takes its time to get into high gear. And as for the ending—readers will either find it chilling, or disappointing.

Bachorz, Pam. Candor. EgmontUSA, 2009.

Pam Bachorz Website