(2) YA In this prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy (beginning with The Hunger Games, rev. 9/08), the Games are in their infancy, and eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow, the future president of Panem, is mentoring tribute Lucy Gray Baird, a beguiling singer-songwriter from District 12--but, as always, there are twists. First, quite a few mentors and tributes die before the games even start, victims of unfortunate "accidents" or rebel attacks. Second, there is a budding (though generally unconvincing) romance between Coriolanus and Lucy Gray. The play-by-play account of the Games occupies less of the book's attention than does Snow's character development. Despite an aristocratic background, the Snow family has fallen on hard times, and Coriolanus's future hinges on his success as a mentor, even as he sorts through his feelings about the Capitol-district enmity and about Lucy Gray. The rising action develops rather haltingly, and the downbeat ending seems to emphasize the worst in human nature. However, readers who make it past the slow beginning may find that Collins's storytelling gifts, characteristically formidable here, outweigh any shortcomings.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(2) K-3 Illustrated by James Proimos. Collins tells a story based on her own childhood, the year her father was deployed in Vietnam and she began first grade. Throughout the book, scenes of Suzy's everyday life alternate with wordless spreads from Suzy's imagination, as her benign picture of the Vietnam jungle begins to morph into something more realistic. An understated, extremely effective home-front story.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2014

(2) YA After the events of Catching Fire, Katniss reluctantly accepts her role as figurehead of the rebellion. As she heals, both physically and emotionally, she works through not only the ethical minefield of warfare but also her complicated relationships with Peeta and Gale. The story plays out on an epic scale as Collins brings her compelling science-fiction saga to a satisfying, provocative conclusion.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2010

(2) YA Six months have passed since Katniss and Peeta won the Hunger Games, with the next Games--the seventy-fifth anniversary--fast approaching. The story kicks into gear as the fascinating horrors of the Hunger Games are re-enacted with violence and suspense; a stunning resolution sets the stage for a grand finale. Collins has again delivered a page-turning blend of plot and character with provocative themes.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2009

(1) YA Katniss volunteers to represent her district in the Hunger Games, a compulsory, government-sponsored reality-TV show from which only one of twenty-four teenage contestants will emerge alive. A fierce, resourceful competitor, Katniss also displays great compassion and vulnerability. The twists and turns are addictive in this compulsively readable blend of science fiction, romance, and social commentary.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2008

(2) 4-6 Twelve-year-old Gregor confronts his own mortality in this series's final volume. The story picks up with Gregor, his gravely ill mother, and his three-year-old sister in the subterranean Underland. The plot moves swiftly but with deliberation, and Collins delivers more vivid action, military machinations, and nuanced characters. By the end, readers will be battle-weary but buoyed by Collins's ultimate message of hope.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2007

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mike Lester. A storm knocks out the power in computer-game-addicted Charlie McButton's house, forcing him to take a battery from his sister Isabel Jane's dolly. This causes Isabel Jane understandable anguish mitigated only when Charlie realizes that sisters, like computer games, are interactive, and he plays with her. On-meter Seussian rhymes and antic art combine to create an original, funny, and timely tale.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) 4-6 Six months after the end of the first book, eleven-year-old Gregor is back in the Underland, where he must protect his little sister from the legions of rats who want to kill her, as well as hunt and kill a ten-foot-tall white rat. Book Two features Collins's careful attention to detail, pacing, and character development; Gregor's fans will cheer the promise of future visits.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2004

(2) 4-6 Eleven-year-old Gregor and his little sister fall down a rabbit hole-like air duct; what awaits them at the bottom is no tea party. The strange inhabitants of this nightmarish land are convinced that Gregor is the warrior spoken of in a centuries-old prophecy who will prevent their annihilation by gigantic rats. Collins sends a reluctant Gregor on the classic hero's journey in this fast-paced, immensely satisfying narrative.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2003