Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I realize that The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins has been reviewed by nearly every single book blogger on Blogspot, but I felt the need to toss my hat into the ring anyway. Better late than never, right?

The reason why it took me so long to read it is because I'm a library patron these days. I can't remember the last time I bought a recent release. It's just not in my budget, unfortunately.

So I had to wait patiently while the sixty-three people in front of me in the hold list read the book.

I'm glad I did.

If you know the premise of the story, skip ahead, intrepid reader. For those not in the know, Katniss Everdeen is a young girl who lives in the Seam in post-apocalyptic North America. The United States has been transformed into Panem, a twelve-district colony that is ruled cruelly by the Capitol. Katniss' district happens to be the twelfth—the poorest, saddest district out of the dozen. She takes care of her mother and sister Prim by hunting and gathering in the forests.

Each year, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games, a battle royale between twenty-four tributes, a male and female from each district. Every child between the ages of 11 and 18 is eligible to be chosen through a lottery system called the reaping. This is Prim's first reaping and she is chosen.

Katniss volunteers in her place to save the child from certain death, even though it might mean her own death.

I love a good dystopic society story. I think it makes me feel better about living in my own society because, hey, at least they don't make children battle each other to the death in an arena while the rest of the nation watches anxiously through television. Plus, these sort of stories are challenges to the author because she essentially has to create a brand new world, without making it sound like it's a Brave New World, if you catch my drift.

Collins successfully constructs a world that I have not read of before. It's different than a lot of the other dystopic novels I've read in that it's a much more natural world. A lot of authors assume that if society is going to get worse, it's because everyone moves into the cities and plugs in, but Collins sets the society back by wiping the slate clean and creating a new colony, one she can virtually play with endlessly.

Given that this is Book 1, I'm eager to find out what happens next. I won't spoil the outcome of the novel for you, but it's definitely worth a read.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Book Review: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Forgive me if this review is short; I made the mistake of reading this and then avoiding the review like it was made of plague until today. Part of the reason is because I’m lazy. Another part is because I sort of lost my drive and zeal for reading and have been overdosing on Dog, the Bounty Hunter.

But I’m back, baby!

So what can I tell you about American Born Chinese? Yang’s graphic novel is actually three stories in one. The first is a mythical folk tale about The Monkey King, who, despite being a powerful god, is laughed at by the other gods. The second tale is of Jin Wang, a Chinese-American boy who endures the pressures of being a minority in his new school. And finally, the third story follows the life of a white boy named Danny and his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee, who visits every year to wreck havoc on Danny’s life. Chin-Kee is the ultimate in Chinese stereotype—his dialogue is written phonetically, his clothing is stereotypically Chinese (right down to the conical hat); Yang is almost vicious in his depiction of Chin-Kee—the words of all Chinese stereotypes embody the character.

These three stories appear to run parrallel together, but at the end the characters begin to appear in each other’s stories.

I don’t know much about Chinese-American culture, but I can understand the pressures of wanting to be someone you are not. I think everyone has at some point in their life longed for something different, but it’s not possible to change who you are fundamentally.

Deep down, the story of American Born Chinese is that you should accept your heritage, and love your family and friends, no matter what their culture is. It may take a demi-god Monkey disguised as a Chinese stereotype to knock that into you, but ultimately you can’t run away from who you are.

It’s an old lesson, but it’s told in a unique way with lovely cartoon graphics, and a fun set of stories. I felt like I learned a bit more about what it’s like to be Chinese in America.

A good graphic novel, and I would even recommend it for children. The lesson is easy to grasp and the story moves quickly enough that you can share it with your kids.

Rating: Four stars

Book Review: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

What can you say about Anne of Green Gables that hasn't been said by every 10 year-old girl in Canada and a good chunk of the remaining world? Anne is...beguiling; you can't help but fall in love with the little girl that sweeps through Avonlea, winning hearts and minds.

I started this book in prep for a sisterly trip to PEI and I just finished it, over a month after our return. I didn't read any of it while we were there, knowing that I would likely be saturated by all things Anne. I was not wrong. I'm glad I left the rest of the book for my return. After visiting Avonlea, I read the rest of the book with a new-found appreciation. PEI is unlike anywhere else I've been to and it's magic and beauty is captured by L. M. Montgomery's classic tale. It's no wonder people love it still, a hundred years later. While the language may be old-fashioned, the beauty and innocence of a little orphan girl seems to be timeless.

I think I need something contemporary next. Between Anne of Avonlea and Francie Nolan (see previous review, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) I'm starting to turn into a real puritan, methinks!

Book Review: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Sweet glittery vampires! This book...well, I have to be kind, don't I?

I'll be honest. I haven't finished it. I'm trying very hard to finish (mostly because I want to return it to Chapters, but that's another story...) but boy does Meyer make it hard.

I've been hauling this 700 + page tome around for the better part of a week and a half and I just can't get into the story. It's long, it's over-wraught with ridiculous emotions that make absolutely no sense and - can I just say - the name Renesmee is quite possibly the silliest one I have ever heard. Mashing two people's names together to create a new one is only awesome if you do it to mock them (e.g. Brangelina); it's rarely going to turn into a good name, as evidenced by Meyer's poor, linguistically-challenged attempt. Most of the characters start calling the poor kid "Nessie" for short. Personally, I would have gone with "Smee", but that's just because I hold a candle for Peter Pan's Smee (and it's fun to say)!

I'm sorry...I'm trying to be nice. It just makes me mad, though. Here was a perfectly nice trilogy of silly, fluffy, teenage vampire romance (fairly certain that's how she sold it to Little, Brown) and she had to go and ruin it by cashing another cheque. You can't convince me otherwise.

Shoulda stuck to three, Meyer. This one's an F for me.