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Suzanne Collins
Biography
Watch this video interview with Suzanne Collins.
Suzanne Collins made her mark in children's literature with the The New York Times bestselling series, the Underland Chronicles, for middle grade readers. Her debut novel, Gregor the Overlander, received numerous accolades in both the United States and abroad. Alice in Wonderland provided inspiration for this series. Suzanne was struck by how pastoral the setting must seem to kids who, like her own, lived in urban surroundings. In New York City, you're much more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole and, if you do, you're not going to find a tea party. What you might find...? Like Alice, an eleven-year old boy named Gregor takes a very long fall beneath his world.
Suzanne is breaking new ground with The Hunger Games trilogy. Poignant and rich with edge-of-your-seat pacing, this series is set in a district that evolved from the ruins of what was once known as North America. "It's hard to choose one element that inspired The Hunger Games," says Suzanne. "Probably the first seeds were planted when, as an eight-year-old with a mythology obsession, I read the story of Theseus. The myth told how in punishment for past deeds, Athens periodically had to send seven youths and seven maidens to Crete where they were thrown in the Labyrinth and devoured by the monstrous Minotaur. Even as a third grader, I could appreciate the ruthlessness of this message. ‘Mess with us and we'll do something worse than kill you. We'll kill your children.' Other early influences would have to include watching too many gladiator movies which dramatized the Romans' flair for turning executions into popular entertainment, my military specialist dad who took us to battlefields for family vacations, and touring with a sword fighting company in high school. But it wasn't until the much more recent experience of channel surfing between reality TV programming and actual war coverage that the story for this series came to me."
Suzanne Collins has had a successful and prolific career writing for children's television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa Explains it All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. She received a Writer's Guild of America nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed Christmas special, Santa, Baby!
Suzanne currently lives in Connecticut with her family and a pair of feral kittens they adopted from their backyard. For more information, please visit www.suzannecollinsbooks.com
- Teacher Store
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The Hunger Games
The Teacher Store 
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne CollinsIn the futuristic ruins of North America, selected boys and girls fight to the death on t.v. - and young heroine Katniss has been chosen. "Brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced." - NY Times Mature content.
$8.99
Paperback Book | Grades 9-12
Grades 9-12 $8.99
- Scholastic Store
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Gregor the Overlander
The Scholastic Store 
Gregor the Overlander
by Suzanne CollinsWhen Gregor falls through a laundry room grate in his apartment building, he plunges into a world where spiders, rats, and cockroaches co-exist with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and it seems that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. The boy wants no part of it -- until he realizes that it may be the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance.
Special After Words edition includes:- About the Author
- Q&A with the Author
- Create Your Own Underland
- Meet the Creepy Crawly Critters of Underland
Page Turners
Demonstrating the power of perseverance and family, this fantasy promotes reading for enjoyment and develops fluency.
Learn more about Suzanne Collins.
$5.99
books;paperback books;paperbacks | Ages 12 and Up
Ages 12 and Up $5.99
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