The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games series, by Susanne Collins. is now a staple of American pre-teen literature. What girl hasn't read of the escapades of Katniss Everdeen?
   In a dystopian future the people of North America have rebelled against the government and lost, causing their country to be split up into the twelve, or thirteen, districts of Panam.  Each year, districts one through thirteen have been forced to give to of their children up to the Capital to compete in a game where they will fight to the death. Katniss Everdeen, a headstrong sixteen-year-old from district 12, the mining district, is called upon to take place in this tournament.  Afraid for her life Katniss enters the arena . . . and starts a revolution.  The three books span from the beginning of the 74th Hunger Games to the end of a war that has rocked Panam and changed Katniss forever.

I do not see they hype around these books.  Yes, they are very well written and very bloody, but I cannot connect with anyone in the books.  I'm left asking the question, 'Why do I care what Katniss does?  Why do I care if she survives or not?'.  And, of course, there is the 'which dude should I choose' drama.  I don't care about either of them.  She could end up a lonely recluse for all I care.
        The future these books present are grim and very believable.  Emaciated children survive in the districts while well-fed and pampered children frolic in the Capital.  I think I like the first book the best because it shows the connection between these two, and how absurd it is.  It might also be a commentary on this world, this present time, as well.
         In my opinion, the other two books are stretching the plot line a bit.  It is evident that Susanne Collins made up the 'Quarter Quell' just so she could have a sequel.  And why on earth would the Gamemakers turn the streets of their beloved city into an arena in Mockingjay?  While you're reading it it makes some sense, but the illusion of reality it creates shatters if you try to reflect on it. 
         Neither Katniss nor Gale jumped off the page at me.  My favorite characters were Haymitch and Peeta because they have faults and because they seem more rounded.  Sure, Katniss is headstrong and rude, but she eventually becomes predictable. Gale just seems like someone that was sort of stuck on the side so there would be some dramatic tension.  He is usually dismissed as a 'cousin' and Katniss doesn't spend much time agonizing over the lie.  Haymitch, though, is the town drunk with a past full of pain.  Peeta quietly watches Katniss from the sidelines, and you know, dramatic agony, romance gone awry, putting his heart in the wrong place, all that stuff.  But when he gets stung by hornets that make you hallucinate and he starts believing that Katniss is out to kill him, well, I know I'm cruel, but that's where the real fun begins.
         Basically, what I said about the Gamemakers and the Capital apply to the whole book:  While you're reading it, it makes sense and it is a pretty good book, but with a second thought the books loose their meaning. 
          The books are a trilogy, to be read in the order of:  The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.  And while Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, may catch on fire, she just can't catch your interest.