October 10th, 2013



Suzanne Collins

? Scholastic Media

557 Broadway

New York, NY 10012



Dear Suzanne Collins,



First, The Hunger Games trilogy is awesome. I personally think that the best book out of all three is the first one, The Hunger Games. I tend to like the first books more than the following ones in most series. Your style of writing is great. It captures my attention from the first word. I do not fully understand how it is different than other books, but it just is. It’s just awesome.


I am writing to you because your books have made me realize that our world right now is very much like Katniss’s world. People inside and outside of my school are fighting to stay alive. Literally and figuratively. In my school, everyone’s trying to be popular, get good grades, be active in sports and clubs, etc. Outside of school, people are shooting each other for unknown reasons—maybe they’re panicking because the world is becoming corrupt and the only answer for them is to shoot. People are fighting for jobs, money, food, anything to keep going. That is like Katniss in Panem and in The Hunger Games. The tributes are fighting to stay alive; to be the last one to live -- to be the victor. Katniss and Peeta are fighting to stay alive. Then comes that nasty thing that makes everything complicated: Love.


They must decide between love and themselves: life or love? When Peeta is captured, Katniss is fighting to get him back and be the Mockingjay to lead the rebellion at the same time. She has a very complicated life. When we lose something important to us like Katniss did, we often choose to go insane. When we disagree with someone, we will most likely choose to shut down all connection with them. However, Katniss chooses to take the risky way. She tries to make everything right and destroy everything wrong. That is the brave way.


Okay, this letter is going to get serious all of a sudden. I know there are people in this world who wake up every morning and think, “Will I be able to live through this day?” because the chances of that happening are so small. I’m beginning to compare Katniss’s life with real peoples’ lives. Some people have such a hard time getting through one day, while others are sitting around comfortably in our houses. Some people have to learn math writing on dirt, while we have beautiful classrooms and appealing schools. Yet we complain that we don’t want to go to school because it’s boring or stressful. Some people have to work twelve hours a day to be able to pull together one small meal for their family, while we have huge, wasteful portions of food. And then we say that we’re “too full” and throw the rest of the uneaten food away. An example of wasting food is Panem. The people of Panem eat until they are bursting, drink weird fluids, and throw up to eat more. Some people don’t have phones, computers, tablets, anything, while we take them for granted and dispose of them as soon as we get bored of it.. Some people are SO happy to be alive for one more day, and yet we take everything we have for granted.


We should never take anything for granted.


We never know when we’ll die, yet we slump around grumpy, selfish and never thinking twice about other people. That is a major flaw of the human race. The districts in your book are great examples of some of the real world. They work their butts off, but in the end, it’s not about them. It’s about their friends, family, everyone else BUT them. Panem, however, is like the majority of this world. They are selfish, greedy, self-indulgent, unappreciative, and even if they DO work or go to school, it’s all about them. About them eating. About them getting money. About them never thinking about the poor. That is us.


I have a big dream that someday, the people of the world will stop in their tracks and think, “Huh. Is this how I’ve been acting my whole life? Is this how the rest of the world has been acting lately?” and they will at least try to change their ways. Then maybe humans, poor and rich, can join hands and live together in harmony. But first, we must face the consequences, and then we have to act. Maybe your book will help us do that. Who knows?