Books: Graceling by Kristin Cashore & Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsGraceling by Kristin CashoreAs my 12-year-old niece said “This book is better than Harry Potter, Twilight, and Maximum Ride!” You just can’t get a better recommendation than that. But if you actually want to know what the book is about, read on. Imagine discovering at a young age that you have been Graced with the ability to kill other people. Your uncle, the king, also learns of this ability and uses you as his personal enforcer and execution squad. This is what happens to Katsa. She then meets Po who has been Graced with the skill of fighting. They meet under unusual circumstances and, of course, are thrown together again later in the story. Katsa and Po set off on a great adventure that involves excitement, intrigue and romance as they try to save the kingdom and get out from under the power of her manipulative uncle. Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsThe United States has gone through devastating wars and is now set up as a collection of twelve districts and a capital in this disturbing and chilling novel. Every year one boy and one girl from each region are chosen to compete in a brutal fight to the death called “The Hunger Games.” Katniss comes from a very poor district where she lives with her mother and younger sister. In order to try to save her sister, Katniss enters the drawing as many times as she is allowed. However, it is still her sister’s name that is called. Katniss volunteers to take her place and is flown to the capital with Peeta, the boy from her district. They are immediately swept up in the glamour and excitement, intrigue and danger that the capital tries to place on the event. Despite the troubling theme of the book, the characters are heartbreakingly real with emotions and reactions that will touch any reader.
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April 15,
2009
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