The Hunger Games trilogy

Suzanne Collins is an American television writer and novelist, best known for writing The Hunger Games series.
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Early life

Suzanne Collins is the daughter of an Air Force officer.[2] She graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts and earned her M.F.A. from New York University in Dramatic Writing.
Career

Collins' career began in 1991 as a writer for children's television shows. She worked on several television shows for Nickelodeon, including Clarissa Explains It All, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Little Bear , and Oswald. She was also the head writer for Scholastic Entertainment's Clifford's Puppy Days. She received a Writers Guild of America nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed Christmas special, Santa, Baby!

After meeting children's author James Proimos while working on the Kids' WB show Generation O!, Collins was inspired to write children's books herself. Her inspiration for Gregor the Overlander , the first book of The New York Times best selling series The Underland Chronicles , came from Alice in Wonderland, when she was thinking about how one was more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole, and would find something other than a tea party. Between 2003 and 2007 she wrote the five books of the Underland Chronicles : Gregor the Overlander , Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane , Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods , Gregor and the Marks of Secret , and Gregor and the Code of Claw . During that time, Collins also wrote a rhyming picture book, When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005), illustrated by Mike Lester.

In September 2008 Scholastic Press released the The Hunger Games , the first book of a trilogy by Collins. The Hunger Games was partly inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Another inspiration was her father's career in the Air Force, which allowed her to better understand poverty, starvation, and the effects of war. The trilogy's second book, Catching Fire , was released in September 2009, and its third book Mockingjay , was released on August 24, 2010. Within 14 months, 1.5 million copies of the first two Hunger Games books were printed in North America alone. The Hunger Games has been on The New York Times Best Seller list for more than 60 weeks in a row. Lions Gate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company. Collins adapted the novel for film herself.[10] Directed by Gary Ross, filming began in late spring 2011, with Jennifer Lawrence portraying main character Katniss Everdeen. Josh Hutcherson plays Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth plays Gale Hawthorne.

As a result of the significant popularity of The Hunger Games books, Collins was named one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2010.
Personal life

Collins resides in Connecticut with her husband and their two children.

She also lives with her two adopted cats.

Plot
See also: The Hunger Games universe

The Hunger Games takes place in the future after the destruction of North America, in a nation known as Panem. Panem consists of a wealthy Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts. District 12, where the book begins, is located in the coal-rich region that was formerly Appalachia.[7]

As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol, in which a 13th district was destroyed, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised event in which the participants, or "tributes," must fight to the death in a dangerous, outdoor arena, controlled by the Capitol, until only one remains. The story follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12, who volunteers for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. Also selected from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a baker's son whom Katniss knows from school and who once gave her bread when her family was starving.

Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol, where their drunken mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, victor of the 50th Hunger Games, instructs them to watch and learn the talents of the other tributes. They are then publicly displayed to the Capitol audience in a televised session with interviewer Caesar Flickerman. During this time, Peeta reveals on-air his long-time unrequited love for Katniss. Katniss believes this to be a ploy to gain audience support for the Games, which can be crucial for survival, as audience members are encouraged to send gifts like food, medicine, and tools to favored tributes during the Games. The Games begin with eleven of the 24 tributes dying in the first day, while Katniss relies on her well-practiced hunting and outdoor skills to survive. As the games continue, the tribute death toll increases. A few days later, Katniss develops an alliance with a twelve year-old girl from the agricultural District 11, Rue, who reminds Katniss of her sister Prim. The alliance is short-lived when Rue is killed by another tribute, whom Katniss shoots through the neck with an arrow before comforting the dying Rue. At Rue's request, Katniss sings to her, and then spreads flowers over her body as a sign of disgust towards the Capitol.

Supposedly due to Katniss and Peeta's beloved image in the minds of the audience as "star-crossed lovers," a rule change is announced midway through the games, stating that two tributes from the same district can win the Hunger Games as a pair. Upon hearing this, Katniss searches for Peeta and eventually finds him wounded. As she nurses him back to health, she acts the part of a young girl falling in love to gain more favor with the audience and, consequently, gifts from her sponsors. When the couple are finally the last two tributes, the Gamemakers reverse the rule change in an attempt to force them into a dramatic finale, where one must kill the other to win. Katniss, in the hopes that the Gamemakers would rather have two victors than none, retrieves highly poisonous berries known as “nightlock” from her pouch and offers some to Peeta. Upon realizing that Katniss and Peeta mean to commit suicide, the Gamemakers announce that both will be the victors of the 74th Hunger Games.

Though she survives the ordeal in the arena and is treated to a hero's welcome in the Capitol, Katniss is warned by Haymitch that she has now become a political target after defying her society's authoritarian leaders so publicly. Afterwards, Peeta is heartbroken to learn that their relationship was mostly a calculated ploy to earn sympathy from the audience, although Katniss remains unsure of her own feelings.
Publications

The Underland Chronicles

Gregor the Overlander (2003)
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (2004)
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (2005)
Gregor and the Marks of Secret (2006)
Gregor and the Code of Claw (2007)

The Hunger Games trilogy

The Hunger Games (2008)
Catching Fire (2009)
Mockingjay (2010)

Other books

Fire Proof: Shelby Woo #11 (1999)
When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005)
When Charlie McButton Gained Power (2009)

Awards

2011 - California Young Reader Medal
2010 - Georgia Peach Book Awards for Teen Readers
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year: Children's Fiction
An American Library Association Top 10 Best Books For Young Adult Selection
An ALA Notable Children's Book
2008 CYBIL Award--Fantasy and Science Fiction
KIRKUS Best Young Adult Book of 2008
A Horn Book Fanfare
School Library Journal Best Books of 2008
A Book List Editor's Choice, 2008
NY Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
2004 NAIBA Children's Novel Award
2006 ALSC Notable Children's Recording (audio version)