Hungry for Some GAMES!

I have something to say:

I KNEW it! I knew The Hunger Games was going to be the next big thing.

The surgeon's assistant at the dental clinic where I got my wisdom teeth out will totally back me up on this. Back in the beginning of December, when I got my teeth out and afterwards when I was in the recovery room coming out of a sleepy stupor, I talked up The Hunger Games big time for some reason. I said that this series of books was "the next big thing." I also said a lot of other things, most of which I can't remember and may not have made sense. Anyway...

I remember at the end of my second-to-last semester at school, around December 2009, I breezed through The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I'd seem them around and thought I'd give them a try. I read YA lit all the time, so this wasn't that unusual. And these books were awesome and I mean AWESOME. I read the second one on the day of a huge oral exam that I should've been studying for instead. Then, when the final book Mockingjay was published summer 2010 and I was able to get it from the library (because that's how I roll.), I was crazed with anticipation.

What was with this series? Why was I hooked? Well, rereading the series during these past couple weeks, I remembered why I fell in love with the story. First, the suspense makes the novels. Everyone I've talked to just can't put them down. You barely realize you're turning pages and finishing chapters, it all just drives to the end in one breathless stream. I was pulled in by the story, which I touched on in an earlier blog post here (back in November, where I also promised it was going to be big! The title of the post is called "The Next Big Thing," for goodness sakes!). Suzanne Collins writes about a futuristic dystopian society, but it all seems so relatable. It's not weird and "out there," it's a story about love and death, sacrifice and justice.

I know a lot of people have been comparing it to Twilight and Harry Potter. Personally, Harry Potter will always be the best to me. The story, the characters...perfection. The Hunger Games is good in its unique ways, but it will never be Harry Potter. But that doesn't mean it isn't great.

And all the nonsense about a "love triangle?" Well, it's nonsense. Katniss, the gutsy heroine of the Games, is no Bella. Is she swooning over a vampire and a werewolf, while managing to do, um, nothing productive or helpful? No. She's trying to provide for her family, save the lives of her friends, and ultimately bring down a corrupt government. The romance portrayed is realistic and tough at times. Definitely complicated, and not by the fact that her boyfriend wants to drink her blood.

The books were fantastic, and die-hard fans like myself were eagerly anticipating movie news. Last March we found out which actors would be portraying favorites like Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and President Snow. I listened to my fan podcasts and wondered if these movies were going to be good. Book to screen adaptations have certainly failed before. But as the months rolled past, things looked more and more hopeful. Lionsgate's ad campaign for The Hunger Games has been unlike anything I've ever seen. From the animated, fiery movie poster to the Capitol nail polish to the social networking to the trailers...it's been stellar. It's created so much buzz for the films. Forget the film just doing well, it's going to EXPLODE!

Reviews have been coming in from critics already and they are very promising. I have never been this excited for a movie before, never. My brother and I will be lining up for the midnight premiere tomorrow night expecting something terrific. And I don't think we'll be disappointed.

I've been so proud to be a part of this fandom since I first read the books. Yes, I do sometimes want to say to people reading them now that I read them beFORE they were this big. But mostly I just tell everyone to read them. And everyone is. Old, young, guy, girl. It's an exciting time to be a librarian. Kind of what it must have been like when Harry Potter took off.

So read the books! Go see the movie! And get caught up in the next big thing.