Friday Finds-Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins to be released by Scholastic on August 24, 2010!

The release of the third book in the widely popular Hunger Games is set for August 24, 2010. This day will coincide with her North American book tour that will take her throughout the United States. I'm looking forward to her visit in Connecticut and the New York City area.

I came across this interview series with Suzanne Collins on the Scholastic Website. This is only part one of a five part interview with the author. She talks about where her ideas to write this series came from, classical and from our lives today. I teach media literacy to young children. I share her concerns about reality TV versus reality in the world. Are we becoming desensitized from viewing a blurred crossover of reality TV and the real world images of war and other violence in the world?

I learned a lot about this writer and her books from watching her interview segments. I hope you enjoy it too!

Classical Inspiration



Desensitization





For those of you who have not read The Hunger Games, here is a synopsis from Scholastic:

More About The Hunger Games
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capital surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capital is harsh and cruel and keeps the other districts in line by forcing them to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight-to-the death on live TV. One boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and sixteen are selected by lottery to play. The winner brings riches and favor to his or her district. But that is nothing compared to what the Capital wins: one more year of fearful compliance with its rules. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her impoverished district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this stunning novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. For more information about The Hunger Games and to download digital images, visit http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/hungergames.

Friday Finds is hosted by Should be Reading.