reality and illusion. Katniss’ many deceptions do eventually accomplish good: the Hunger Games are over, and despite all Katniss’ losses society is at least improved. When Peeta asks Katniss at the end of Mockingjay , “You love me, real or not real?” and she answers, “Real,” we know this was not always true. Illusion can become reality. Love is real now.
Even though the audience knows Katniss, Peeta, and the Hunger Games are all not real, we still believe that answer is true.
SARAH REES BRENNAN was born in Ireland by the sea, where she spent her schooldays secretly reading books rather than learning Irish. That paid off, as she is now the author of the Demon’s Lexicon trilogy, a series about attractive troubled brothers and all the fierce ladies and evil magicians they know, the first book of which received three starred reviews and was a Top Ten ALA book. Her next book, cowritten with Justine Larbalestier, comes out in 2012.
TEAM KATNISS
JENNIFER LYNN BARNES
Who doesn’t love a good love triangle—especially one involving guys like Peeta and Gale? Finding out which boy Katniss would end up with was an important moment—and for some readers the most important moment—in the series. But, as Jennifer Lynn Barnes reminds us, amid all the talk of who Katniss would choose , we sometimes forgot to think about who Katniss actually is . Barnes looks at Katniss independent of potential love interests and provides a convincing alternative to Team Peeta and Team Gale: Team Katniss.
T hese days, it seems like you can’t throw a fish in a bookstore without hitting a high-stakes love triangle—not that I recommend the throwing of fish in bookstores, mind you (it annoys the booksellers—not to mention the fish), but it certainly seems like more and more YA heroines are being faced with a problem of abundance when it comes to the opposite sex. While I am a total sucker for romance (not to mention quite fond of a variety of fictional boys myself), I still can’t help but wonder if, as readers, we’re becoming so used to romantic conflict taking center stage that we focus in on that aspect of fiction even when there are much larger issues at play.
No book has ever made me ponder this question as much as Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy—in part because it seems like everyone I know has very strong feelings about which boy is the best fit for Katniss, but also because the books themselves contain a commentary on the way audiences latch onto romance, even (and maybe especially) when lives are at stake. To survive her first Hunger Games, Katniss has to give the privileged viewers in the Capitol exactly what they want—a high-stakes romance featuring star-crossed lovers and unthinkable choices. Given that readers of the Hunger Games trilogy are granted insider access to Katniss’ mind, life, and obligations, it seems somewhat ironic that in the days leading up to the release of Mockingjay , the series was often viewed the same way—with readers on “Team Peeta” and “Team Gale” focusing on Katniss’ love life, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else.
But Katniss Everdeen—like a variety of her literary predecessors—is far more than a vertex on some love triangle. She is
interesting and flawed and completely three-dimensional all on her own. She’s a sister, a daughter, a friend, a hero, and—above all—a survivor . She’s defined by her compassion, her loyalty, and her perseverance, and those are all traits she has independent of the boys.
I’m not Team Gale or Team Peeta. I’m Team Katniss, and in the next few pages, we’re going to take a closer look at her character and explore the idea that the core story in the Hunger Games trilogy has less to do with who Katniss ends up with and more to do with who she is —because sometimes, in books and in life, it’s not about the romance.
Sometimes, it’s about the girl.
Meet Katniss Everdeen
Ask anyone
Even though the audience knows Katniss, Peeta, and the Hunger Games are all not real, we still believe that answer is true.
SARAH REES BRENNAN was born in Ireland by the sea, where she spent her schooldays secretly reading books rather than learning Irish. That paid off, as she is now the author of the Demon’s Lexicon trilogy, a series about attractive troubled brothers and all the fierce ladies and evil magicians they know, the first book of which received three starred reviews and was a Top Ten ALA book. Her next book, cowritten with Justine Larbalestier, comes out in 2012.
TEAM KATNISS
JENNIFER LYNN BARNES
Who doesn’t love a good love triangle—especially one involving guys like Peeta and Gale? Finding out which boy Katniss would end up with was an important moment—and for some readers the most important moment—in the series. But, as Jennifer Lynn Barnes reminds us, amid all the talk of who Katniss would choose , we sometimes forgot to think about who Katniss actually is . Barnes looks at Katniss independent of potential love interests and provides a convincing alternative to Team Peeta and Team Gale: Team Katniss.
T hese days, it seems like you can’t throw a fish in a bookstore without hitting a high-stakes love triangle—not that I recommend the throwing of fish in bookstores, mind you (it annoys the booksellers—not to mention the fish), but it certainly seems like more and more YA heroines are being faced with a problem of abundance when it comes to the opposite sex. While I am a total sucker for romance (not to mention quite fond of a variety of fictional boys myself), I still can’t help but wonder if, as readers, we’re becoming so used to romantic conflict taking center stage that we focus in on that aspect of fiction even when there are much larger issues at play.
No book has ever made me ponder this question as much as Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy—in part because it seems like everyone I know has very strong feelings about which boy is the best fit for Katniss, but also because the books themselves contain a commentary on the way audiences latch onto romance, even (and maybe especially) when lives are at stake. To survive her first Hunger Games, Katniss has to give the privileged viewers in the Capitol exactly what they want—a high-stakes romance featuring star-crossed lovers and unthinkable choices. Given that readers of the Hunger Games trilogy are granted insider access to Katniss’ mind, life, and obligations, it seems somewhat ironic that in the days leading up to the release of Mockingjay , the series was often viewed the same way—with readers on “Team Peeta” and “Team Gale” focusing on Katniss’ love life, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else.
But Katniss Everdeen—like a variety of her literary predecessors—is far more than a vertex on some love triangle. She is
interesting and flawed and completely three-dimensional all on her own. She’s a sister, a daughter, a friend, a hero, and—above all—a survivor . She’s defined by her compassion, her loyalty, and her perseverance, and those are all traits she has independent of the boys.
I’m not Team Gale or Team Peeta. I’m Team Katniss, and in the next few pages, we’re going to take a closer look at her character and explore the idea that the core story in the Hunger Games trilogy has less to do with who Katniss ends up with and more to do with who she is —because sometimes, in books and in life, it’s not about the romance.
Sometimes, it’s about the girl.
Meet Katniss Everdeen
Ask anyone
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