Fan of the Week: Haleigh LaBorde

Haleigh LaBorde is 14 years old, is a huge fan of The Hunger Games and loves to write.  She’s shared with us her piece written from the point of view of Katniss and Peeta’s daughter when they tell her about the Games.

Hunger Games

What is it about The Hunger Games you love so much?

What I love about Hunger Games is that the characters are so alive and so brilliant, nothing that we’ve ever seen before.  They truly bring the world they live in to life.  And it’s not a happily ever after.  After killing children and fighting for a cause that she’s not sure she wants to be a part of and that’s almost as inhumane as the one she’s fighting against, how could Katniss not lose her sanity?  Another thing is that the book brought such heavy emotions out of me.  These books made me laugh, scream, cheer people on, and cry until my eyes were bloodshot.  I felt something with every word.  Great books make you feel like you’re standing right by the character.  Suzanne Collins wrote to such a degree of perfection that you feel like you actually are Katniss, struggling to make monumental choices and just trying to survive and save the lives of those you love.  Hunger Games teaches you about life and about love, and reading them changed my viewpoint on the world.  Even if we’re strong, we’re nothing without those we love.  Even someone as strong as Katniss needs people she cares about to truly live.

Who is your favorite character in The Hunger Games?

My favorite character has to be Peeta.  He’s such a real person, and he realizes what the Games do to you before even Katniss does, declaring he doesn’t want to be changed.  He understands what it means to be human, and he knows that winning the Games aren’t worth it if he changes to something he hates.  He knows exactly what he stands for, and he knows that to deny the evil in the world, you have to hold on to the things you stand for.  He’s got such strength and love in a place that seems bleak and hopeless. He knows what the consequences are of living without love are from his parents.  What really shows his strength was his hijacking, how he came back from that to be the person he wanted to be.  And he gives Katniss of all people the promise of hope.

What are your expectations for The Hunger Games movie?

My expectations for the movie are so high it’s crazy!  I want to see the world of Panem brought to life and see this message of what it means to be human.  After they first announced the casting I was shocked because I felt like I knew the characters in my head and the people were so different than what I imagined.  But Suzanne Collins and Gary Ross picked them all for a reason, and if they didn’t portray the characters the way they were meant to be portrayed they wouldn’t be in the movie.  The trialer was everything I wanted it to be and I can’t wait to see the finished product!  The only thing I really need out of the movie now is to stay true to the message.  If they focus too much on the love triangle, which was just a subplot, they’ll lose the message that captivated all the readers in the first place, just exactly what being a human being on this earth means.

What’s your favorite quote?

So many quotes to choose from!  I have a journal with my favorite quotes on this series alone.  I think I’m going to have to settle for two: It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart -Finnick Odair, and: But there are much worse games to play -Katniss Everdeen (Mellark).  Finnick’s quote is so true for all the characters, and for humans in general.  Katniss never truly heals from the Games, even though it only took her sanity to snap in the few seconds of Prim’s death.  Peeta will always have his flashbacks.  Annie will forever be living in her arena.  The power of what the Games do to the victors, how they dehumanize the subjects, is evident in that simple sentence.  To understand what we as people have the capability to do is frightening.  We need to know that we can never take it that far to comepletely ruin another human being.  And yet, as if to counteract that, my other favorite quote shows that you can always recover.  Katniss shows that there are worse things to be a part of, and that she has learned to live her life to recover from her horrible life before.  She’s saying that while it’s impossible to forget the past, she can feel good again, which is so important for people going through tough times to hear.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Just that I love the Hunger Games so much.  I read the series in less than a week, cried for two hours after the end of Mockingjay (my sister Kailyn thought I got stabbed I was crying so hard!). I own the pin, all the characters posters, the calendar, and have learned so much from these books.  As an author, Suzanne Collins is one of the two I most aspire to write like.  She is my inspiration for my original novel and I want to thank her personally for beautiful books she’s created.

If you want to be featured as our fan of the week, check out our Fan of the Week page to find out how to sumbit your details.  We love hearing from fellow Hunger Games fans and would love to know what makes you such a huge fan.

Related posts:

1. Fan of the Week-Katie
2. Fan of the Week: Xenia Rassolova
3. Fan of the Week: Colleen Lamanna
4. Are you our Hunger Games Fan of the Week?
5. Fan of the Week: Jennifer Lee

Tags: fan of the week, suzanne collins, the hunger games

Category: Fan of the Week