Hunger Games - Catching Fire - Do People Get the Social Message?

I was talking with my son about the popularity of the Hunger Games trilogy and the topic came round to the underlying social message of the stories. That lead to the question, do people who take in the entertainment value of the story see the parallels in the real world?

Take the set up of the twelve districts, all being raped for the glory of the Capital. Well, this one is easy right?

I'm sure everyone can see the first world lifestyle wrapped up in the Capital with the third world suffering to keep up with the first world consumption. Third world starves and we continue to consume without a thought of where our food, clothes, and items come from.

What about cleaning up those select few and then parading them out to the Capital before they send them back to the squaller of their districts to live in the Victor's Village?

It's really blatant contrast of how the two different societies live in PanAm. We do it here too.

We take those whose stories touch our hearts, clean them up, parade them through the media and then send them right back to their slums in the third world. Don't think we do? Take the kids from SlumDog Millionaire. They got a taste of what celebrity in the first world feels like and then were sent back to their homes in the slums of India. Are they better off for it? Or now that they know how we live, feel cheated? How would you feel?

Then there is the 10 year old girl, Nujood Ali,  who faced down her society and got a divorce from her much older husband, who bought her from her family. We put her on talk shows, showed her a life she can never have, and then sent her back to the family who sold her in the first place.

We are doing it again with Malala Yousafzai, but at least she doesn't have to go back to a slum.

Then there is the killing each other to entertain the Capital.

Yes we do this too, with our reality TV shows, but also in our news reports on the wars. We watch the TV, see the terrible images, hear the heartbreaking stories and then we turn the TV off and forget. We can do nothing so why bother. They are 'other' - over there, someone else. They have nothing to do with us. Yet, it is our governments and our economy that effect their way of life and move the chess pieces into place. In the 80's the US backed the Taliban, put them in power, knowing full well how it would effect the citizens there. The US leaders are there because their citizens vote them it.


As a thanks for coming by and reading this post - 
I'm giving away a free download of the e-book  - Thirteen by Shannon Peel.

Jack is a rebellious thirteen year old boy, who just wants to hang out with his new high school friends, but his mom’s curfew is restricting his freedom.

When foreign soldiers invade his hometown, cutting off the power, communications, and any chance of escape, Jack and his friends have to figure out how to survive.

With no way to contact his father, they have no idea if he is safe or one of the people disappearing from their homes. Now all Jack wants is to get his dad back, unfortunately, armed soldiers are in the way.

Thirteen is a roller coaster of twists and turns. It is a story of a boy figuring out who he is and redefining his relationship with his mother. To protect his mom, he puts himself into dangerous situations and organizes a group of kids to brain storm ideas and gather information on the soldiers.

Hunger Games - Catching Fire - Disappointment?

I took my daughter to the opening day of the new Hunger Games movie - Catching Fire. Got there for the 7:30 showing half an hour early and the theatre was packed and the only seats available were at the front. So, I exchanged the tickets for the 9:45 showing and we sat for over an hour in line to get our seats in the Theatre and we weren't the first in line.

We were both disappointed with the movie.

She thought it focused too much on the killing and found it scary, which considering she's watched the first movie and read the books, really says something. I thought it skimmed over the whole book so fast that it didn't really get into the story. Instead showing you the highlights and never really enabling the viewer to 'feel' or get into the character's struggles. They really should have split the book into two movies, it would have done the franchise more in the end.

It skipped through the first half of the book so fast, they should of just not done it. It spend too much time in the arena fighting and not enough time developing the new characters and their relationship with Katniss and Peta. Some of the important character details of the story were inserted so quickly, it was easy to miss them. Since the pace of the story was so fast, scenes like the wedding dress lost their impact.

The acting was great. The special effects impressive and the sets amazing. The issue was in the pacing and the story. Not enough characterization or tension. Had they split the movie into two and focused on the 12 district tour instead of the new games, they would have had a better story. They would have been able to develop the relationship between Katniss and Peta better, they would have been able to show the effects of the brutal new guard better, they could have shown more of Katniss' relationship to Prim and her mom. Then people would have cared more for the characters on the screen and identified them to the characters they read in the books.

I just wasn't all that impressed and neither was my daughter. Should have just waited for the digital edition on Netflix.

As a thanks for coming by and reading this post - I'm giving away a free download of the e-book Thirteen by Shannon Peel.


Jack is a rebellious thirteen year old boy, who just wants to hang out with his new high school friends, but his mom’s curfew is restricting his freedom. When foreign soldiers invade his hometown, cutting off the power, communications, and any chance of escape, Jack and his friends have to figure out how to survive. With no way to contact his father, they have no idea if he is safe or one of the people disappearing from their homes. Now all Jack wants is to get his dad back, unfortunately, armed soldiers are in the way.

Thirteen is a roller coaster of twists and turns. It is a story of a boy figuring out who he is and redefining his relationship with his mother. To protect his mom, he puts himself into dangerous situations and organizes a group of kids to brain storm ideas and gather information on the soldiers.

Books for Middle Grade Boys.

http://shannonpeel.bravesites.com

Jack has just left the confines of elementary school for the freedom of high school, problem is his mom treats him like a kid and won't let him grow up. His home is a constant battle field until foreign soldiers invade his hometown shutting off all power, communication, and any chance of escape. Jack and his friends need to figure out how to survive without technology, power, communication or escape. 

Parenting a thirteen year old boy can be extremely frustrating. They go from being the cute little boy who listens to you and follows the rules to a secretive pain in the Keyster. I know I'm not alone here. Many parents wake up one morning, usually on the first day of Grade 8 and find that their son is the victim of body snatchers. We ask ourselves, how did our sweet little boy turn into this new creature and can I send him back? 

When my son was 13, my life became a difficult. I never knew where he was. He broke two cell phones. Skipped class and was hanging out with a whole new crowd of kids I didn't know. He got in trouble at school, almost with the police over a fireworks purchase incident at school. He wouldn't share any of his life with me, except those parts that would make my mind melt trying to figure out if he was serious or not.  Let's just say he liked to mess with my mind. 

My novel, Thirteen, draws from this relationship froth with conflict, rebellion, and love. It isn't a moral story lesson trying to tell kids how they should be. It's a real look at life through the eyes of a thirteen year old boy trying to figure out who he is and how to get away from his mom in the process. 

The book itself has received some good reviews and the feedback from the kids who have read it. They can identify with the character, the situation, and like the story of survival. Once they start reading this fast pace novel, they can't put it down and are asking me for more. 

Get a free e-book download

Summer at the Lake - A Time to Read.

I'm not sure what it is about life at the family cabin, but everytime I'm there I go into a slumber.  The cabin is a great place for me to catch up with my cousins and their families but I go into an anti-social stuper.  All I feel like doing is sleeping, eating, swimming, and most of all reading.  This is the one place where I read fiction novels and I consume a book a day at least.  I always take parenting books etc with the best of intentions to catch up on my non fiction reading but I rarely break their spines.  I picked up a bunch of novels at used book stores and garage sales, yes I am very behind when it comes to reading the annual best sellers or Oprah approved books. 

Along with some good reads by John Grisham and Joy Fielding, This year I picked up:

Memoires of a Geisha
Letter in a bottle
She's come Undone

I loaded the car down with books for the kids to read, since there isn't much to do up there except swim and read.  NO TV, internet, cell service, video games, or computers.  This year I left their portable video games at home.  My daughter spends almost every minute in the water or playing with her grandparents.  My son always has his nose in a book and avoids swimming or exercise.  This year he has an excuse though, on our first day of camping he was hit by a tree and sprained both ankles, that's for another post though.   Since there is no TV, cell service, video games, or computers at the cabin they have little choice but to occupy their time reading or running around in the great outdoors. 

I'm always looking for a good book or a good writer at garage sales just before I head out to the cabin.  This year I found a few but I've almost exhausted my favorite readers and am open to suggestions.... What's your favorite book to read at the beach or curled up with a glass of wine. 

I've been talking with other kids we've been visiting with, trying to find another series of books the kids will like.  So far Percy and the Olympians and something about the Ranger's apprentice are the front runners for my pocket book.  What books do you're kids like to read?

Can't remember the title of a book and the author isn't who I thought

It is so frustrating, you know when you can't remember something. I read a novel once about a women who's husband died when his yacht blew up. A year later a psychic shows up with a message from her dead husband. Someone murdered him and now is trying to kill her. She discovers her husband isn't who she thought he was. They don't have kids. In the end the whole thing has to do with money and his mistress the psychic. I thought the book was written by Joy Fielding but it isn't listed on her site.

If you have any suggestions as to the writer or the book title please let me know!! It's drivin me crazy.

Quick Meal Ideas -- Dinner using Left Overs in less than 30 Minutes.

I don't like to cook yet I still have to cook healthy dinners on a real tight budget. One of my favorite meals to make uses Lipton Sides pasta n sauce. I add left over meat or a can of tuna, with frozen veggies. Simple and done in less than 30 minutes.

What is your quick, easy, and cheap dinner idea?

These books are filled with quick and easy ideas. Great meal planning tips and shopping lists to keep you organized and save you money.

Siblings that read to Each Other Form a Strong Bond

My 8 year old son is a fantastic reader and he loves to read to his 5 year old sister before bed. He will read her a bedtime story and spend some real quality time together. He helps her learn her words and she loves this special time with her big brother.

Every night before bed we sit and read, sometimes I read a chapter from a chapter book, sometimes my son reads to his sister, sometimes my daughter will read to me. It's this time that we all bond together.

My kids have a hard time falling asleep, tonight they actually fell asleep before 9:30 that's a record. So the time we spend before bed must be quiet and relaxing. However, when my son reads to his sister it's usually full of laughter and not much resting. He will even help her read sometimes, that is really special time.

I don't have them over scheduled in lots of different activities, I value the time that they spend together at home too much to have one following the other all over the city. It's my goal to have a close family not a busy one.

Their favorite book to read together is Alligator Stew, this might explain the uncontrollable laughter.