Our Hunger Games Fame Continues!

I've been a very bad blog host lately, and I'm hoping that this summer I can spend more time discussing and rehashing all of the things going on in pop culture on this blog. Until that time, I will leave you with just a few minor updates on our Hunger Games fame. We were guests on the Tuesday, April 26th show of the Blog Talk Radio program, Hunger Games Fireside Chat. Gary Ross may be extremely busy casting his movie (which I definitely have opinions on, but don't have time to post and share tonight), but 8th graders don't seem to comprehend that he just might be too busy to hop on a plane, fly to Lubbock, and hang out with them for a few days. My students as EVERYDAY if he's coming. It never gets old. ;) To tide them over until his arrival or the premiere of the movie, we've been giving interviews. Here is our latest interview with HG Fireside Chat:


Pretty awesome youtube title, don't cha think? :) If you are a fan of the movie and books, you definitely need to subscribe to this podcast. The show is chock full of great information about the upcoming movie, and has interesting discussions about the books and characters.

We also had a pretty cool interview run in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and then the same article run again in the Amarillo Globe-News:

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Here are a few of the pictures they took of my class the day Joe Gulick (Reporter for the AJ) had the pleasure to talk to my class. The class he interviewed is mostly composed of ornery, smart boys ( a lethal combination in middle school). They had great fun yanking his chain and telling him whoppers. I had to constantly say, "Please do not write that down," to Mr. Gulick repeatedly. The little turds are letting fame go to their heads. :)

GARY ROSS KNOWS MY NAME!

Here is our local Fox News 34 covering our big brush with Hollywood and The Hunger Games!


To say we are excited that the local news media was able to actually TALK to Gary Ross, would be a gross understatement. Here's to hoping he can visit our school (and cast us as extras in the movie...just a suggestion.).

Gary Ross, Director of 'The Hunger Games' Gives My Students a SHOUT OUT!

If you are a Hunger Games fan, then you know who Gary Ross is, right? The guy who has the future of the franchise in his hands is sorta well-known around this blog . He has the power to take this book to premiere status, and everyone in Hunger Games Land has an opinion of what the movie should and should NOT contain.

My students LOVE & ADORE this novel, and also have very strong opinions about the movie. Never mind the fact that they are 13 and 14 years of age, they have specific and ENLIGHTENING expectations of what they want this movie to look like and contain. Many people believe 8th graders do not have coherent thoughts, but I'll be the first to go to bat for them - they are INTELLIGENT little humans!

Before our Thanksgiving break, I decided to mirror something that I had witnessed in the "Making of The Outsiders" documentary I viewed two years ago. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a gritty story of teens and their "real" problems - a story that had nothing to do with "Sally Sue's First Spring Dance". It was nothing like the adolescent literature that was on bookshelves in the late 60's. Word of mouth from teen readers fueled the sales of Hinton's groundbreaking work. A group of middle school students in Fresno, California were so passionate about the novel, their librarian encouraged them to write a famous director and beg him or her to make this novel into a movie. The students chose to send their letters to Francis Ford Coppola, the director of the Godfather films. Coppola states in the documentary that he was impressed with the students opinions and heart-felt pleas to turn this book they loved into a movie. Simply put, the cult-classic film, The Outsiders was created because STUDENTS put pen to paper and voiced their opinions.

Hell hath no fury like an 8th grader scorned! Don't let us down, Gary!

I hoped my opinionated students could repeat history, and write letters that would influence the director of THEIR beloved novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Ross having recently been named the film's director, it was the perfect time for student to send voice their opinions to the man in charge of it all. Taking the opportunity to teach proper letter format, I had my students HAND WRITE their letters on our school letterhead. They could say whatever they felt in the letter (and trust me, they didn't hold back), but they couldn't be insulting or stupid (even though I'm afraid several of those letters leaned toward the latter:).

Before writing, we created a "non-negotiables" list of book components that HAD to be in the film, and also discussed faux pas we didn't want repeated in HG, that we'd noticed in other films based on books. From there, they crafted their letters with much thought and calculation. Then came my contribution to the assignment: finding a DAD-GUM MAILING ADDRESS FOR GARY ROSS. I Googled my little heart out, and nearly gave up on finding a legitimate address to mail our package of letters. I finally found the main headquarters of Lionsgate Entertainment in California, and the address seemed to be my best bet. Skeptical that THE Gary Ross would ever get his hands on my students' meticulously crafted letters, I dropped the package in the mail, and hoped for the best.

Upon returning from Christmas break this week, my students had asked a few times if I'd heard anything about our letters, but I think they all thought I was a dork for even mailing them...Gary

Ross couldn't possibly receive OUR letters out of tons of fan mail he must receive on a daily basis, could he? The IMPOSSIBLE seemingly happened when I was given a phone message from Entertainment Weekly reporter, Karen Valby. She left the inquiry with our school secretary, who delivered the message to our assistant principal, who then finally gave it to me Thursday morning. After reading the message that stated "reporter for Entertainment Weekly who wants to talk to teacher about student letters to Hunger Games director", I nearly stroked out in the main hallway of our school. Have you ever had a moment in which you want to scream, "No bleepin' WAY!". Well, it's really hard to have that "moment" when in front of your boss! I was so excited, I was sweating like a truck driver and trembling like a 6th grader on their first day of junior high!

Look for the interview (mentioning my FRENSHIP MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS) in the January 14th issue of Entertainment Weekly!

I took a moment to collect myself so this Entertainment Weekly reporter wouldn't think I was a nut job, and give her call. After sweating through a greeting with Karen Valby, and hoping to goodness this wasn't a sick joke orchestrated by one of my ornery students, I was pleased to hear the good news. According to Valby, she had recently interviewed Gary Ross, and he had told her about letters he'd received from a group of 8th graders at Frenship Middle School near Lubbock. (Thank the Lord for campus letterhead, or she wouldn't of had a contact number for our school!) Ross went on to share his opinions of the students passionate responses, and even said he was "dying to go to this school"! I'm sure I said something during our phone conversation, but all I remember doing was sweating...PROFUSELY, and possibly SQUEEEEEEing in my pants a little. Valby also graciously offered to send me copies of the January 14th edition of the mag.

After hanging up with her, I proceeded to run around the school (in heels, mind you) and blubber my crazy news to students, fellow teachers, custodian, random-parent-in-the-hallway, librarian, and some little 6th grade kid I didn't even know. I wouldn't have students for another half hour, and I had to tell SOMEBODY! (I think I even called every member of my immediate family, since they are privy to my Hunger Games addiction.) It was one of the most exciting moments of my life (minus the birth of my daughters, and marrying my husband...blah, blah, blah...you know what I'm talking about!). Knowing that something GREAT was happening to my students filled me with an indescribable JOY. A memory was being made for these kiddos, and perhaps trust in the world being built in them - maybe knowing Gary Ross read their letters would teach them that they ARE NOT insignificant in the world. On a grander scale, perhaps they will realize after this cool occurrence that writing a letter or voicing an opinion is worth the effort. I'm cheesy, I know, but it was a very AWESOME moment in the life of this teacher! Very Hallmark/Lifetime movie-esque, and something I had to share!

Here is a snippet of the article from the Entertainment Weekly website:

“I’m so touched by the humanity of Katniss,” Ross tells EW. “As much as the firestorm or the final action sequences are incredibly riveting and enormous, it’s the relationships in the books that are the most moving to me.” That’s good news for fans of the book from Lubbock, Texas. Upon news that Ross had taken the helm, an 8th grade reading teacher from Lubbock’s Frenship Middle School instructed her 134 students to each pen letters to the director with advice on how to best nail the film. “So many of them wrote ‘Listen, I know this is an action movie and I can’t wait to see the action but please don’t lose the heart of the story,’” relays Ross. CAUTION! STOP! FAT SPOILER ALERT! “The death of Rue is mentioned by every kid who reads the book.”

One Frenship boy pleaded for Megan Fox in the role of Katniss, a perhaps misguided request at least partially driven by hormones. Ross and Jacobson will soon be heading into casting meetings, and they understand the growing clamoring for a relative unknown in the main role. “I don’t think she should be famous,” says Jacobson. “I think that fans want Katniss to belong to them and I understand that. And I think that sometimes with people who have a strong other identity — as a celebrity or as a well known other character — you feel like that person doesn’t belong to you and I think that’s what fans are looking for.” Ross promises that casting announcements will come soon, as the film hopes to go into production in the late spring.

Please, no ridiculous comments about how "Megan Fox is all wrong for Katniss"...WE KNOW THAT! The reference to that particular 8th grade letter was meant as a joke. That student is a silly, witty, goofball and mentioned to Ross that imagining Katniss as Megan Fox made the book all the more interesting. (Ahhhhhhh...8th grade boys and their awkward hormones.) To say my students were excited about Gary Ross reading their letters would be a gross understatement! They were floored, over-the-moon, giddy as school girls (well, half of them ARE school girls), and were pretty much planning their trip to Hollywood to meet the cast, crew, and Gary Ross. (And that one young man was still holding out hope of meeting Megan Fox.) I had to remind them that Ross said he WANTED to meet them, but we would never know if that statement would actually come to fruition. Either way, we are BEYOND EXCITED about THE Gary Ross reading our "helpful" and opinionated Hunger Games movie letters! For more scoop from Gary and a few more references to my students letters, purchase your copy of the January 14th edition of Entertainment Weekly PRONTO, amigo!

EW's Open Letter to Soon-to-be Hunger Games Director, Gary Ross

As a fan of The Hunger Games, I'm more than nervous about what the Hollywood scene will do to this movie. I've seen through the first Twilight film how they can totally twist the book into something that it's not (hello, Twilight the action film? Uh, no, thanks!). According to Entertainment Weekly, Gary Ross will most likely be the director of the film I'm waiting on pins and needles to be made. Can we get a cast list for crying out loud? Hire the dang director and let's get this show on the road!

Darren Franich, a columnist for EW has concerns about the movie that he shares in his open letter to Gary Ross that I've copied for you below. After reading his letter, now I have even more stuff to worry about. I agree with Franich, though. Read the book meticulously, Mr. Ross. METICULOUSLY. Talk to Suzanne Collins. Jump inside her brain. Do NOT try to stamp YOUR "artistic" vision on this and turn it into a pop-culture disaster like Twilight. Granted, those movies have made mega-money, but true fans were sorely dissappointed. Stick to Collins's vision for this movie, and we will all leave you alone. That is all...;)




From Entertainment Weekly "Shelf Life" blog:

Dear Gary Ross:
According to Variety, you’re all-but-officially the director of the Hunger Games movie. Congratulations! You haven’t directed a movie in seven years — Seabiscuit, saw it– and now you’re at the center of the next big young-adult franchise. Hooray! Now, I hope you won’t mind, but I have one minor request: Please, please, please, please, don’t make The Hunger Games gritty. Don’t shoot the movie with handheld cameras. Don’t bleach all the color out of the film stock until everything looks like rusted Depression-era gunmetal. Don’t forget: Katniss Everdeen is not Jason Bourne.

Now, I’m no snob. Gritty can be cool. Heck, calling a movie “gritty” used to be a compliment. Saving Private Ryan, The Lord of the Rings, and The Bourne Identity all took sainted genres known for glossy excess — the war film, the fantasy epic, the espionage thriller — and smeared them in mud. Actors spoke every line in an angry whisper. The color scheme was monochromatic, mostly hovering between comatose-blue and industrial-gray. It was awesome…for awhile. But now, “gritty” is everywhere. We’ve seen the Gritty James Bond movie, the Gritty Superhero movie, the Gritty Twilight movie, the Gritty Terminator movie. We’ve seen Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, the single muddiest movie ever made.

I understand the impulse to go gritty with Hunger Games. It’s post-apocalyptic, like Children of Men and all the real-world scenes in The Matrix. Katniss lives in District 12, a coal-mining town that reads like a Soviet hellhole. The latter half of the book is one extended action sequence — sound like it demands the extreme-close-up/shaky-cam tension of a Bourne film, right?

Wrong. Reading Hunger Games, you’re struck by just how vivid and alive the forest is. It’s Katniss’ escape from drudgery, the one place she can really feel alive. Listen to her describe the valley outside of District 12: “teeming with summer life, greens to gather, roots to dig, fish iridescent in the sunlight.” That’s sounds more like the Technicolor-organic wilderness of Avatar than the dark, shadowy woods of Twilight. Conversely, the Capitol reads like a fascist version of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek: too bright, too colorful, overpopulated with highly-caffeinated supermodels. But again, no gritty here.

Mr. Ross, Hunger Games has an instantly exciting storyline, and I have to believe that even a lame treatment of the book will result in a pulse-pounding action movie. But just because ugly things happen in Hunger Games doesn’t mean the film should look ugly. Heck, making Hunger Games gritty is the equivalent of adding a CGI stormcloud over President Snow’s head and adding explanatory subtitles to every scene: “VIOLENCE IS WRONG. DON’T DO FASCISM.”

Don’t make things too easy for the audience. Don’t forget about Suzanne Collins’ biting satirical edge, or her beautifully expansive vision of the world outside the fence. Don’t be afraid to unleash your inner Paul Verhoeven, or your inner Terrence Malick. Don’t go gritty. Hunger Games fans (and people who suffer from motion sickness) will thank you.

Sincerely,

Darren J. Franich, anti-grit crusader and self-described Hunger Games expert

Hunger Games Projects

Oops! We did it again...My fellow 8th grade Reading teacher and I dressed up as Katniss for "Twin Day" during our Red Ribbon Week festivities. Other than a few students asking if we were Pocahontas, it was a huge success!

It's been a LONG time since I've posted, but teaching seems to hinder my ability to blog on a regular basis. (Curse you, real world!) Teaching is what actually leads me to this post - my students' amazing work on our recent Hunger Games projects. I usually wait to teach the novel at the end of the year, but decided that it would be best to have my students excited about reading at the BEGINNING of the year. A no brainer, right? Shifting my curriculum around just might be the best thing I've done in terms of doing what is best for my students. We finished the novel this week and MANY have already consumed Catching Fire and are halfway through Mockingjay. Thank you, Suzanne Collins for enabling my students to find pleasure in reading. Who woulda thunk it? I love seeing my 8th graders grappling for books and begging to borrow copies of my novels. It's like they've just discovered how pleasurable reading can be and are making up for lost time. Moments like these are what make teaching such a blessing!

I couldn't ruin their excitement for the novel and tarnishing this pleasurable experience with a stale, pointless, multiple choice test. Last year we created HUNGER GAMES FAN T-Shirts as part of our final exam (which we will do again before our Hunger Games Arena Competition, but that is another post). This year students could work in a group (no larger than four members) and choose from the following options:

1. Gadgets of the Capitol - Many gizmos and gadgets are referred to in the pages of The Hunger Games. Select one or many of the gadgets you found interesting or worthy of further exploration. Create a commercial or advertisement for the gadget in which you give a description and function of the item.

***I had three funny, creative, and down-right exceptional commercials submitted by students for this area of study. A group used the box that Katniss places her hand on to dry and part her hair. Using a wig, they cut from a boy with wet hair placing his hand on the box, to the same boy with a ridiculous wig on his head. "The Helping Hand Hair Genie" was a fabulous commercial! I will post it when (and if) I can obtain parent permission...it's too amazing not to share!

2. Cinna's Creations - Cinna was Katniss's stylist who helped to make her a memorable contender before the start of the Games. Recreate Cinna's fashions through drawings, fabric, or any other medium you desire. Be sure to include a description from the text when you present each outfit. Here are a few grainy pictures of a PHENOMENAL project sumitted by my 8th graders:

Using doll clothing patterns and their combined sewing/painting skills, this group went ABOVE AND BEYOND the call of duty.

This dress was HAND PAINTED by a student to mimic the flames described on Katniss's interview gown.

Katniss's opening ceremonies costume. Using the doll and putting her in the costumes of the opening ceremonies seemed somewhat symbolic to me. These characters in the books are just children; children being paraded around the Capitol for mere entertainment value.

3. Muttations - The Capitol used the genetically altered DNA of animals and humans to create MUTTATIONS. Select one or all of the muttations mentioned in The Hunger Games and create an informative poster, or you can even create a model of the mutt. You must have a description of the muttation from the text and describe what role the mutt had in the novel. (For example, the mockingjay was a symbolic to Katniss because the bird reminded her of her father.)

This is the wolf mutt, GLIMMER! Notice the green eyes and the jewel inlaid District 1 on her collar? Not what I would call a cuddly creature!

4. The Arena - Recreate the Arena by drawing a map, creating a scale model, or through computer animation and graphics. Select a certain area of the arena (like the Cornucopia), or create the ENTIRE domain of Katniss and Peeta's suffering! Include textual descriptions and do your best to stick to the novel's depictions of the Arena.

Model of the Cornucopia created by a FABULOUS group of students in my class this year. Check out the attention to detail!

The Cornucopia and it's mini-supplies.

See all of the tiny tributes poised on their metal plates? Such effort put in to this project!

Hey, That's ME!

Do ya'll remember when I dressed as Katniss last April to introduce The Hunger Games to my class? My husband told me those pictures I posted would come back one day to haunt me...

He was RIGHT! HA! One of my students told me yesterday, "Hey, Mrs. Hart, I saw you on a Hunger Games blog this weekend!" It made me kind of nervous; not knowing for sure what the internet site the kid was talking about (Hey, now! Get your mind out of the gutter...that's not why I was nervous!). After finding the link, I thought it was pretty cool that my Katniss costume from last year made it onto a Hunger Games fan blog. Myhungergames.com is a pretty cool fan site for the series if you haven't checked it out already! Above, you will find my picture featured in a post covering Hunger Games Halloween costume ideas (Uh..I'm the one on the right. I refuse to dress like Effie! Ha!). Happy Hunger Games!

Katniss Everdeen: Leading Lady in Teen Fiction

Image by:

© 2010 skellingt0n: Fan imagining of a
The Hunger Games movie poster (DeviantArt)
Isn't this fan-made movie poster AWESOME??? Notice how Katniss and I are mirroring poses in my costume pic. Ha!

If you've frequented my blog, you know that all things concerning The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins dominates most of my posts. I can't help it. I LOVE the book and series, and I'm estatic that I can teach the novel to my junior high students! Today in class we were discussing Katniss and her character traits, and I off-handedly mentioned that she was my favorite female character in teen fiction. My students didn't miss a beat and decided to turn the tables on their teacher, asking, "What makes Katniss your favorite?" Here's a David Letterman-style top ten list detailing why Miss Everdeen is beating out her teen ficiton counterparts for Top Teen Heroine (in my mind):

*drumroll, please...............*

10. She's a bad Mamma-Jamma. Do you want to mess with a chick who can shoot a squirrel through its eye from fifty meters away? I think not.

9. She can sleep in a tree. Who can do that? Seriously?

8. Raw rabbit meat and pine bark: it's whats for dinner!

7. She is literally "The Girl on Fire".

6. Boys do not define her - they fight over her! (And...they are HOT BOYS...who bake...and kill things. ;)

5. Haymitch is her homeboy.

4. She refrains from punching Effie in the face throughout the duration of the trilogy.

3. Pig. Apple. Arrow. 'Nuff said!

2. Peeta loves her. I love what Peeta loves!

1. She could kick the snot out of Bella Swan. (We know I love Twilight, but you have to admit, Bella is one whiney chick!)

Picture by graysee at deviantart.com

Re-Reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My students favorite phrase to say that they think will get them out of work in my classroom is, "But I already read that!" For some reason, students think that it is taboo to reread a novel or short story. Why? Don't we watch our favorite movies over and over again? Do we listen to songs we like the first time around a few more times? OF COURSE! You can derive the same pleasure from rereading a favorite book! (Don't tell anyone, but I've reread the entire Twilight series at least five times. I KNOW!) It's starting to be the same way with Suzanne Collins's addicting series. I teach the first book, so I hear the same chapters repeated six times a day, but IT NEVER GETS OLD! When Katniss is running from the Cornicopia for the first time, my heart quickens and my palms sweat...even if I'd just read that scene to my students the period before!


That brings me to rereading the second book, Catching Fire. When I was first able to lay hands on it, I DEVOURED it. I had to know what would happen to the characters I had come to know and love. When I devour a book, I tend to skip over stuff. My eyes skim the lines with anticipation, and I end up missing out on little details. I'm only through the first two chapters and I'm noticing all kinds of stuff I didn't the first go around. Has anyone else had this experience? I'm planning on chronicling my eye-opening discoveries in a post I'll publish the day before Mockingjay is released! Any tidbits you guys would like to alert me to while I'm rereading? Feel free to leave me a comment!



Totally off the subject, but check out this pic of actress, Kaya Scodelario I found on the Twilightlexicon blog. They were discussing who should play Katniss (aren't all of us?), and a fan recommended her. Add some tan-in-a-can, and I think she looks PERFECT if we are judging by looks alone.

Fan of 'The Hunger Games'? Check Out More of Our Fan T-Shirts!

It's no secret that I'm a HUGE, GINORMOUS fan of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I teach it, I dress like Katniss in my spare time, and I've personally converted many, many 8th graders to the dark side! I LOVE THIS BOOK, and I hope my students continue to spread the word...I think the popularity of this book is definitely 'Catching Fire'...har, har, har! Instead of a final exam over The Hunger Games, my students were required to design a fan t-shirt based on their favorite characters, scenes, or memorable quotes from the novel. I was blown away by the variety and quality of the designs. My room will probably be forever covered in fabric paint, but it was well-worth the mess. The students wore their t-shirt on our field trip to Barnes & Noble, where they participated in a scavenger hunt that the winner won a copy of Catching Fire, the second book in Suzanne Collins's series. I'm planning on hosting a Mockingjay party on August 24th at Barnes & Noble. I hope to have tons of freshman returning to B&N to purchase the third book...let's hope they aren't "too cool" by August 24th for their 8th grade Reading teacher! ;)

This young man is CONVINCED that Megan Fox should play the part of Katniss. Ugh.

I love this kid. When a gal doesn't mind having the word "pus" on her shirt, you know she's a keeper!

A Peeta fan, apparently!

Simple, but cool shirts!


"Loverboy" is Peeta...I thought that was clever and cute! "Cinna Told Me to Wear This Shirt" was more than likely 'borrowed' from another fan t-shirt site.

Hmmmm....how do I explain this set of shirts? I can't. They were made by 8TH GRADE BOYS. Does that help at all??? LOL!

Hunger Games Fan T-Shirts

My students just finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and are in the process of making their very own fan t-shirts. Check out a few of their designs. I'll be sure to post more as they finish them! We also made a few designs on cafepress.com. Check them out at this link:http://shops.cafepress.com/MrsHartsTees



a href="http://blogpress.w18.net/photos/10/05/19/962.jpg">




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games is in the Building!

Katniss Everdeen, ready to entice young minds to read The Hunger Games and LIKE IT!

Perhaps the Capitol loaned Katniss Everdeen an iPhone for the day? Ha! Love that my bathroom mirror is dirty. My husband was too embarassed for me to take my picture. He's no Peeta!
How do you make a Katniss Everdeen costume, you ask? My mother made the tunic out of a men's shirt and I paired it with leggings and my Uggs. The wig was loaned to me from a friend, but I put a headband around the front because the wig had some crazy bangs going on! The bow and arrow are from Walmart.

Katniss Everdeen made an appearance in my classroom this week for our introduction to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I had so much fun dressing up like Katniss, but the wig was a bit itchy! My students think I've lost my mind, but I really think (and hope) that showing up to class as Miss Everdeen, District 12 Tribute, piqued their interest in the novel. They certainly have been paying attention, but maybe my threat to shoot them with my fake arrows if they nod off is the reason! Anywhoooo, here's my Katniss Everdeen costume!

Hunter Parrish as Peeta Mellark?

I've blogged before about the frustrations I have with the lack of information out there concerning The Hunger Games movie. Why is Lionsgate holding out on us? Do they not realize that their is a huge fan base for this book that will double if they would only give us a little bit of information? Every soul that I have peddled this book on to loves it, and with the hype that is surrounding all things "teen" and especially teen fiction, why, oh, why are the marketing execs of this film not capitalizing on this wave of teen love? Anywhoooo, I digress. I meant to show you a few pictures of this hot actor, Hunter Parrish that has been seen on the HBO series Weeds. Don't you think he would make a swell Peeta? Peeta has to be hot, but not pretty boy hot. I think Hunter fits into both of these categories.

Please, Lionsgate, at least release a name or two of actors for Katniss, Peeta or Gale. Sheesh, even a name for Haymitch would at least give me something to mull over until the summer of 2010 rolls around.

Click HERE for a full list of casting suggestions! A great list of potential castings for you to critique...BE NICE! ;)

HUNGER GAMES NEWS! HUNGER GAMES NEWS!

Anytime I search the web for more info on Suzanne Collin's addictive series, I hear nothin'. Crickets. Silence. Until today, when what to my wandering eyes did appear, but a little blurb, with hope in the New Year! Okay, poetry isn't my forte, but what I'm trying to say is that the THIRD BOOK in the series now has concrete release date! Whoot-whoot! Scheduled to release August 24th, 2010, we still have a few months to wait. Oh, what will happen to Peeta, Gale, and our beloved Katniss? I MUST KNOW NOW *head spins***eyes roll in back of head*** sorry, for a moment I lost my frickin' mind! I love this series! I'm so EAGER, ANXIOUS, NERVOUS, ZEALOUS, and twenty other adjectives that I can not think of about the release of the third installment. Let the countdown begin...over 8 months! 8 months! I will take a deep, cleansing breath, because I used to think the release of New Moon would never get here, but it came and went, and I will at least have Eclipse to get me through until August.

Suzanne Collins Discusses The Hunger Games Movie

Around minute 3:30, Suzanne Collins discusses The Hunger Games movie in a recent interview with Borders bookstores. Why in the heck is there NO INFORMATION about the movie out there? Lionsgate, get off your tail and put a press release out or SOMETHING for us fans who are going insane trying to figure out if this movie is ever going to happen. Release a cast name...give us ANYTHING! I love when Collins discusses "cracking the world open" in The Hunger Games movie. Taking the story to the audience and going outside of Katniss's point of view sounds like it will give the film a dimension that the book didn't have. I want to see Gale and Prim's reactions to Katniss's trials and tribulations within the arena. I love her vision for the film and hope she sticks with her role of being the screen writer!

LENZI LIKES IT Featured on Mahalo.com!

Mahalo is a search-based website, and on its HUNGER GAMES fan page, it features my site. Check the page by clicking on the MAHALO logo below. You can find my site by viewing under the heading "The Hunger Games Movie Blogs":