The Hunger Games

2008 Collins, Suzanne (b. 1962). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press. Public

First volume in a young adult dystopian series set in a future North American dictatorship where people are kept on the edge of starvation. The Hunger Games are an annual contest in which each community must send a boy and a girl to fight in an arena until only one survives. In the second volume, Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic Press, 2009, having won the games by breaking the rules, the protagonists become the focus of resentment. In the third volume, Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic Press, 2010, a rebellion unfolds. A prequel is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. New York: Scholastic Press, 2020. The first in a film series was released in 2012, directed by Gary Ross (b. 1956) from a screenplay by Collins, Ross, and Billy Ray. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was released in 2013, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 in 2014, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 in 2015. All three were directed by Francis Lawrence (b. 1971). The screenplay for Catching Fire was written by Simon Beaufoy (b. 1967) and Michael Arndt and screenplays for two Mockingjay films by [Daniel W.] Danny Strong (b. 1974) and Peter Craig (1969). A film, also directed by Lawrence, of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is in development. For a parody, see [Aaron Geary and John Bailey Owen], The Hunger but Mainly Death Games. A Parody. By Bratniss Everclean [pseud.] London: Gollancz, 2012. Female author.