‘Hunger Games’ returns to spotlight

By Fallon Head Web Editor

The Hunger Games has been a favorite series of millions throughout the years, both the books and movies alike.

“The casting was amazing,” junior Maddie Glenn said. “The chemistry between Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence is just so good. It’s beautiful. And they also stuck very well to the book.”

The first novel of the Hunger Games trilogy was released in 2008 and has had waves of popularity since then.

“When the books first came out we could not keep them on the shelves,” librarian Jessica Castille said. “And then, after about four or five years, they died down for a short amount of time. When the movie came out, any time a book is made into a movie or remake, it always becomes popular again and people want to read it again.”

People have returned to this series time and time again.

“[I like rewatching the movies] because then you don’t really pay close attention to the finer details,” Felix Barr said. “It’s much more interesting when you know what you’re looking for. I really appreciate that.”

After the release of the Ballad of Songbirds and

Snakes, many Hunger Games fans swarmed back to the series. The book is a prequel to the original trilogy.

“I really liked it,” sophomore Olivia Brenner said. “I thought it was really good people. A lot of times the prequels to books are very good, but I thought that one was really well done.”

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will have a movie adaptation that will come out on Nov. 17. The trailer and proportion for the movie has been unique with interactions with fans through Instagram with fans being able to ask questions about the adaptation and its trailer, and providing fans 16 clues about the new movie.

“[Since I haven’t read the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes] I didn’t know what was going on,” Glenn said. “I was like, oh, that’s so awesome. That’s so cool. Also, the parallels in the trailer get me really excited about the main character and the battle and everything. I’m super excited.”

The newfound resurgence of the book series has been supported by the series’ popularity on TikTok.

“It’s just fun to see on my page and seeing all the different content that different creators make about it,” Brenner said.

Social media has a large impact on book popularity, with many books reaching record heights with the help of TikTok.

“I think that [social media’s hype is] a double edged sword,” Castille said. “In the sense that, if we only read what’s trending and what’s popular, we’re probably missing a lot of other really good books out there.”