Howden - The Hunger Games A-Z

The synopsis for The Hunger Games by the film company Lionsgate states: In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 Districts. Each year, two young representatives from each District are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated Districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katnisss young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining Districts female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker, who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

It is based on the hugely successful book series by Suzanne Collins.

Translated into 26 languages, The Hunger Games was first published in the US on 14 September 2008, with the audio book released three months later. It has sold over 2.9 million copies in print, and has also sold exceptionally well in eBook format. Collins is only the sixth author to join the Kindle Million Club, which honours authors who have sold over a million paid units in the Amazon Kindle store, and is the first childrens or young adult author to do so.

She was originally only expected to write one adventure in the series. But as soon as she came to the conclusion she knew there had to be a sequel. She explained: Something happens to one of the main characters and does something that never goes unpunished, and I knew I would have to go back to the tale after that. Initially I plotted all three books but I find you learn so much about the characters as you go long its not good to over plot at the start as you hope to find better things as you go along the way.

Critics loved the book, with The New York Times raving: The concept of the book isnt particularly original a nearly identical premise is explored in Battle Royale, a wondrously gruesome Japanese novel that has been spun off into a popular Manga series. Nor is there anything spectacular about the writing the words describe the action and little else. But the considerable strength of the novel comes in Collinss convincingly detailed world-building and her memorably complex and fascinating heroine. In fact, by not calling attention to itself, the text disappears in the way a good font does: nothing stands between Katniss and the reader, between Panem and America. This makes for an exhilarating narrative and a future we can fear and believe in, but it also allows us to see the similarities between Katnisss world and ours. American luxury, after all, depends on someone elses poverty. Most people in Panem live at subsistence levels, working to feed the cavernous hungers of the Capitols citizens. Collins sometimes fails to exploit the rich allegorical potential here in favour of crisp plotting, but its hard to fault a novel for being too engrossing.

The author of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series called it the closet thing to a perfect adventure novel he has ever read, while Los Angeles Times raved that it was enthralling, imaginative and creepy.

And The Times said: If you are looking for something to grip your kids after an orgy of Xbox, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is it Plunge in because this is a rip-roaring, bare-knuckle adventure of the best kind, and destined to be an even bigger hit than Stephenie Meyers Twilight It would be giving away too much to describe all the twists this absorbing and morally challenging novel throws up, but it is a real humdinger that adults, too, would love. In the renewed debate about why boys arent reading, The Hunger Games would be the perfect antidote if only schools had the wit to choose it for a class reader.

The Hunger Games spawned two sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

Amandla Stenberg might just be a young teenager but she has already earmarked herself out as a star for the future thanks to her role in Colombiana. She plays Rue in The Hunger Games.

The self-confessed California girl, born and raised was desperate to star in the franchise after becoming a huge fan of the books, saying: All the kids in my class were reading them and talking about how good they were, so I thought I should try them too. I tore through them because theyre just so good. I fell in love with Rue right away. I love how musical she is, and how quick and smart she is.

Quick and smart are traits that Stenberg also shares with her character. To prove this, she devised a clever plan on how to impress director Gary Ross at the audition.

She said: I heard that they were making a movie, and I already loved Rue. I called my agent repeatedly, saying: Please, please, please get me an audition. After my many, many phone calls, they got an audition for me. That was my golden opportunity. I prepared and prepared, and I went in and met with the casting director, Debra Zane, who helped me, before I met with Gary.

Her mother took some of her clothes and rolled them in the backyard to get mud and grass stains over the garments. To cement the look of a poverty stricken youngster, she also put twigs in her hair. Ross was suitably impressed, telling her that he couldnt believe she had her own hair, makeup and wardrobe department!

She added: I just discussed how much I connected with the character. I also told them how Ive done parkour work, so I have some tree-jumping skills.

Born on 23 October 1998, Amandla Stenberg was named after the Zulu word for power. She was destined for fame almost immediately, landing Disney catalogue modelling shoots by the time she was four years old. It was perfect vindication for the confident young girl, who had told her shocked mother that she wanted an agent a year earlier.

In 2010, she landed her feature debut in Zoe Saldanas action thriller Colombiana. She plays the younger version of the main character Cataleya Restrepo, played by Saldana. She caused such an impact The New York Times said: Ms Saldana has one other thing to overcome: the presence of a wide-eyed 13-year-old actress named Amandla Stenberg, who plays the protagonist, Cataleya Restrepo, at the time her parents are gunned down, in the first 10 minutes of the movie. Her portrayal of the future deadly-but-sensitive killer is such a perfect combination of trembling emotion, action chops and deadpan humour that Ms Saldana, no matter how sexily professional her work is, spends the rest of the movie failing to live up to it.

Saldana, who studied Stenbergs mannerisms on set to ensure that audiences would believe she was the grown up version, raved: It was great to watch her. There are so many things we have in common and tapped into about our character. She blew me away. She was so beautiful and so present, but the killer was there, on the prowl. I thought, Id better bring my game, because she is bringing it.

Stenberg is also a keen musician, stating: I come from a very musical family. My dad taught me to play guitar. I play violin and drums as well. I started the violin in elementary school. Drums actually came when I was in a programme called Rock Star, which was really awesome. We were doing a song by the Ramones, so I thought, Why not play the drums?

Despite starring in a huge blockbuster, shes not set on just being an actress. Im not sure. I love all kinds of art, she explained. I mean, I love sketching and acting and music. There are so many doors open to me, I could go in any direction.