Mockingjay the Movie

“I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Lions Gate. I received a book, products, and a promotional item to thank me for participating.”

Is anyone else as anxiously awaiting the Mockingjay Part 1 Movie as we are?  My two oldest and I have been counting down ever since we saw Catching Fire last fall!

 

I first read the Hunger Games trilogy myself a few years ago.  My kids were just in the early elementary grades and I was volunteering at the book fair at their school.  As we were working, another mom mentioned how much she'd loved the series.  At first I was hesitant... young adult fiction?  teens in a dystopian society battling to survive in a televised game?  I wasn't quite sure about the whole premise.  However, the other mom and I had similar tastes in other books we'd read so I picked up the Hunger Games and started reading.  I loved it, quickly read all three books, and started recommending the series to my friends (with a "no, really, trust me, you'll like it" when they had the same hesitation I did).  

As we chatted in the carpool lines about Katniss, Peeta and Gale, we all tended to agree that even though the series was initially marketed to teens, it appealed to us adults too.  The characters were strong, the storyline was really interesting, and as odd as the plot was, it kept us hooked.  I felt that it was more like regular adult fiction, but was appropriate for younger audiences too.

Fast forward to 2012.  My kids were a little bit older and there was a lot of buzz about the Hunger Games movie.   My two oldest were begging me to go see the movie everyone was talking about.  Since they were strong readers, I told them we could go see the movie IF they read the book first.  They eagerly read the Hunger Games book and then, just like mom, devoured the rest of the trilogy as well.  It was so cool to have a series that I liked and they liked.  We were able to talk about how strong Katniss was, how smart thinking could be even better than strength, how some choices could be both wrong and right at the same time.  Once we saw the movie, we were able to compare the similarities and differences between text and screen.

Last fall, when we left the theater after seeing Catching Fire, we were bummed that we had to wait a whole year to see the continuation when Mockingjay was coming to the big screen.  Now, that year is almost over and we're eagerly planning our return.  We've all seen the trailer ...





and the kids and I have been busy rereading Mockingjay to refresh our memories and getting a sneak peak at some of the characters on the Mockingjay website.  My oldest will be heading to the theaters with some of her middle school friends this Friday for the premier, and my son and I will be heading out to see it ourselves in the next week or two.

How about you?  Are you heading to the theaters?  Just yourselves or with your kids too?