Why The Hunger Games is not Harry Potter, & Why We Should Care « Transmedia Camp 101

Warning: Spoilers – lots & lots of Spoilers from the Trilogy. Don’t read if you don’t want to know.

Have you read it? The Hunger Games? the full series? been on the Facebook Capitol PN or District pages lately? Dipped into the Twitter feed #LookYourBest?

If you have, you may have noticed something really odd. If you’ve read the first book (now in theaters near you &amp; soon to be released in IMAX!), then you know that Katniss Everdeen volunteers to be a tribute to save her sister, Prim, from certain death.</p><p>In the first novel, we see the poverty of District 12, learn about the uprising of the 12 Districts against the Capitol, the ensuing annihilation of District 13, the brutal subjugation of the remaining 12 Districts and the founding of the Hunger Games as a reminder of the destruction that rebellion and civil war lead to.</p><div>Image</div> <p>

In The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins’ story exemplifies what I have come to see as the moral core of children’s literature, which I have taught roughly twice a year for 10 years now. The power &amp; the truth of children’s lit lies in the valuing of a child’s pov, which in the ‘real’ world, we adults view as immature, naive, ignorant, etc etc, in contrast to the more mature, nuanced &amp; complex understanding adults have as a result of experience and more time spent on earth.

The moral core of good children’s lit is the absolute assertion of the value of the individual relationship against arguments of sacrificing one or many for the greater good. You see this in Huckleberry Finn, where Huck cannot betray the immediacy of his friendship with Jim, even though he believes helping a runaway slave is wrong & will land him in hell. It’s there in The Golden Compass where Lyra always commits to helping those who are being victimized, and she consistently positions herself against the adults in power who kill the weak for the greater good: the children at Bolvangar, Roger… Philip Pullman makes this contrast explicit in Mrs. Coulter’s and Lord Asriel’s complete lack of empathy for those they torture & use respectively.

This moral core is fundamental to Rowling’s Harry Potter series, as Harry, Hermione, Ron & Dumbledore’s Army consistently chose to fight Voldemort’s totalitarian regime. And most importantly, what Rowling makes absolutely clear is that her characters assert their love for one another, and that those bonds exist as an aspect of identity and community that are worth self-sacrifice, as Harry shows us in the final book, but never the sacrifice of others as symbolic or token substitutes.

So, if you’ve only read The Hunger Games, the first novel seems to hew closely to this model. The Hunger Games are an annual sacrifice of two youths for the greater good, Katniss’ volunteering for her sister is a self-sacrifice that saves her sister from experiencing a horrible death played out as spectacle for the entertainment of the Capitol and which the Districts are obligated to witness....

Read my full post here:

Whoa! & Whoot! Harry Potter to live on in internet treasure hunt game | Children's books | The Guardian

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Two cool games in one week!

"...It is thought Rowling's new project, due to be officially launched on Thursday, will be a Potter-based treasure hunt entitled Pottermore, after an apparently secret memo emerged.

The new project is reportedly an online game that gives users clues which will lead them to prizes hidden in the real world. Aspiring wizards the world over can hope to find an undisclosed number of magic wands stashed throughout the UK and US, and possibly other countries. It is not yet clear if the treasure hunt is Pottermore itself or a marketing drive for another product, and details about the game remain hazy.

News of the project emerged after the Times appeared to have been sent a memo by mistake, although it is not known if it was sent as a marketing device. PR company Adam & Eve appears to be behind the project, and has, in the past, conducted online treasure hunts using Google maps. Last year it created LittleBigMap, a game designed to promote the video game LittleBigPlanet 2, which encouraged users to find new markers on the map by following clues...."

Grassroots activism from the Fans UP: The Harry Potter Alliance | The Weapon We Have is Love

Did you ever wish that Harry Potter was real? Well it kind of is.

Just as Dumbledore’s Army wakes the world up to Voldemort’s return, works for equal rights of house elves and werewolves, and empowers its members, we: Work with partner NGOs in alerting the world to the dangers of global warming, poverty, and genocide. Work with our partners for equal rights regardless of race, gender, and sexuality. Encourage our members to hone the magic of their creativity in endeavoring to make the world a better place. Join our army to make the world a safer, more magical place, and let your voice be heard!