People Make The Difference! by DL Larson

This first photo was was taken in Hawaii, this year. The second is a cliff in Ireland in 2002, I imagine it is still there. Hawaii has many cliffs similar to Ireland. The last photo reminded me of Hawaii, but it is in the Dominican Republic, 2010.

Beautiful scenery is always fun to gaze at, but it is the people we meet who make any trip interesting and worth remembering. The same goes for stories. Without characters our stories lack depth.

Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games, brings this into sharp focus. She has created a strange world, one with a perverse society that makes a cast system look like child's play. She flavors her pages with strong images of what the Capitol looks like versus the surrounding districts where people are starving, yet working nonstop to support the privileged at the Capitol. Uprising is long over-due. Sending children to fight each other to the death is a yearly festival for those at the Capitol.

Katniss Everdeen doesn't realize she is the spark that will propel a revolution she never thought possible. She is a teenager who supports her starving family by hunting for food in the woods, a place forbidden to go. She takes her sister's place at the Hunger Games and life is never the same - for anyone!

The long awaited movie will be released this weekend. It is bound to be a HUGE Hit. Suzanne Collins was very careful in choosing the perfect director for her story. Already there are dozens of trailers to promote the movie as well as guide books to familiarize yourself with the Hunger Games characters and the world they live in. I've already read two of the three books, so I'm pretty in-tune with the characters. Their world is fascinating, but it is them, Katniss, Peeta and Gale who bring this story to life. Just as any good character does!

Til next time ~

DL Larson