I am an unapologetic, crazy fan-girl, screaming school-girl lover of The Hunger Games trilogy.

And GUESS WHAT.

Scholastic has just announced the cover for the third and final installment of The Hunger Games trilogy. I am chewing on my arm in anticipation! It is BEEYOOTEEFUL. Check it out:

Don’t you love it?? Doesn’t it make you wonder how Suzanne Collins will wrap things up? *coughTeamGalecough*

Mockingjay will be released August 24, 2010. I might have to take that day off of work.

I don’t normally do a separate post to announce winners, but I was pretty excited about both the Pope Joan  and the Catching Fire  contests. So here we are.

On a random note, why do I insist on pounding a key on my keyboard multiple times when I know the key won’t work like I want?

Okay, back to the giveaway winners.

For Pope Joan, I had two copies to give away. The winnners are:

Debbie from Suburban Sanity (who has a fantastic header, by the way…not that I’m biased or anything)

and

bridget3420

Don’t forget, you need to buy the book and mail the author your receipt to be entered into the red carpet drawing! Why do you think I bought an extra copy to give away?

For the Catching Fire  giveaway, I’m especially excited. In fact, I’ve been able to find a SECOND copy of Catching Fire  to give away because I pretty much want everyone to READ THIS BOOK NOW. If I could be a bully, I wouldn’t hesitate to bully people into reading books. Kidding! Bullying isn’t funny. Even when it’s about books.

Okay, so the winners are…

Wendy Cleveland

and

Chloe

Congratulations everyone! I am/will be emailing everyone for their mailing address.

I loved The Hunger Games. No, make that I LOVED The Hunger Games. I loved it so much that I told everyone I knew about it. I loved it so much that I was bummed when Scholastic had a contest where you could write an essay about something (I don’t remember what, exactly, you had to write about, and the contest is gone from the site) and if you were picked, you’d get to go see Suzanne Collins. But you had to be between the ages of 12 and 17 (I think that was the age range), and, well, let’s just say I’m at least of drinking age.

Then when I heard there would be ADVANCE COPIES of Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games, at BEA in New York, I cried because I couldn’t go to New York. I thought maybe I should write a post about how I want to have Suzanne Collins’ babies, because then maybe she would scrounge up a copy for me. But then I realized that I’m no one in a sea of fans, and besides, she probably doesn’t need my womb for her babies. And it’s kind of creepy. But I’m willing to risk creepy to snag a copy of Catching Fire.

I DID get to go to BEA and I DID get a copy of Catching Fire and I read it in almost one sitting (I would have read it in one sitting but my plane ride wasn’t long enough). I was worried that the sequel wouldn’t be as good as the first book. I was worried that I had built up the potential of the sequel so much in my head that there was no way the author could deliver what I was expecting.

I was wrong.

Catching Fire was fantastic. I loved it! Suzanne Collins does a great job of developing Katniss’ character and keeping up the tension in the triangle with Peeta and Gale. I’m not going to tell you any more than that after the book is released on September 1, 2009.

But for right now, I’m giving away a copy of both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. This way, if you haven’t read The Hunger Games you can still enter the contest and you won’t have to wait until September 1st for book two. And if you have read The Hunger Games, you can still enter the contest.

Everyone has a level playing field for this contest: Leave a comment on this post answering this question: What would you give up to read Catching Fire? If you haven’t read The Hunger Games yet, then tell me if you’ve ever been at a midnight release party for a book. (I ask because I think I might do that for Catching Fire.)

This contest will be open through July 31st and is open internationally.

Every once in a while there’s a book that just WHAM! takes over your life until you’ve finished the book, and that means you snatch any second you have to read a chapter, a page, a sentence. THIS IS THAT BOOK. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is, in one word, fantastic.

Imagine sometime in the future, when something has happened to North America and the United States is no more. Things happen as they will and you end up with 13 districts, all presided over by one government. The districts don’t like how the government runs things and so revolts, but 12 districts get their booties kicked and the 13th district gets obliterated,  and in order to remind the people that the government IS the boss of them, they make each district pick one girl and one boy between the ages of 12 and 18 who will participate in the annual Hunger Games, which is basically a fight to the death. On live TV!  Huzzah to the winner, but so sorry to the loser.

I know! GAH! SO CREEPY! Maybe even creepier than the everyone-going-blind-creepy. ‘Cause that was all kinds of shiverings. This is even worse.

This is the Capital’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen.”

So in District 12 there’s this girl, Katniss, who’s way cool for anyone with any tomboy leanings whatsoever, because she goes out under the fence (the districts are fenced in!) every day to hunt game for her family who would starve without her. Her dad died in a mining accident when she was 12 and her mother completely broke down, so Katniss has shouldered the burden of feeding her family.

The annual Hunger Games come along, and it’s her sister’s first year being eligible, and Katniss not only is eligible but has her name in the hat TWENTY TIMES. Extra entries for a fun blog giveaway? Really cool. Extra entries for a drawing into the Hunger Games? Not so great. Katniss’ sister, Prim, who’s only 12-years-old, has one lone entry. Phew! But guess who gets picked? Prim. And guess who volunteers to go in Prim’s place? Katniss.

All of this happens in the FIRST 33 PAGES! It gets even more adrenaline-inducing from there! The boy that’s picked from District 12 to fight in the Hunger Games is Peeta, this boy who basically saved her family from starvation four years ago, so hopefully she won’t have to kill him. Together they go to get coached and prepped by a prissy and ridiculous woman and a drunk guy who won the Hunger Games for District 12 years and years ago, both of whom are not happy to be working with a District that doesn’t put out worthy Hunger Game opponents (the nerve of District 12!).

During the Hunger Games, the government can CHANGE THE CLIMATE to basically pit people against each other, just in case someone might be doing something sneaky like hiding or trying not to kill someone. Because that’s not how this game is played, that’s not how the government rolls. We want to see blood, sweat, and tears. Oh, and death, too.

And I loved the plot twists! Katniss and Peeta pretend to be falling in love during the Hunger Games so the audience will root for them (even though There Can Be Only One), and maybe they’re in love but maybe they’re faking! More exclamation points here!!!!!!!

This book will appeal to everyone, no matter your age. It is young adult, recommended for ages 12 and up, but I don’t think I’d let my kid read it until they were 14 or 15. There’s nothing graphic, but this certainly has some heavy topics that 12 and 13 year olds may not be ready for.

This book is the first of a trilogy, and the sequel, Catching Fire, will be released on September 8, 2009. The 3rd book in the trilogy is being written RIGHT NOW and has a tentative release date in 2010. I will swim through shark infested waters to get Catching Fire on September 8th. If it’s released at midnight, I’ll be there at midnight.

Rating: 98 out of 100

Visit the author’s website HERE.

Buy the book from Powell’s, Amazon, or any other bookseller.

Other (probably better) reviews:

Farm Lane Book Blog

Both Eyes Book Blog

Bart’s Bookshelf

Lesa’s Book Critiques

This Book is For You

Semicolon

It’s All About Books

Library Queue

A Comfy Chair and a Good Book

Becky’s Book Reviews

Presenting Lenore

The YA YA YAs