The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

When I heard that Suzanne Collins was writing a prequel to the Hunger Games, I was excited. What would we get to see? Haymitch's times in the arena? A view into another district? The times before the war? There were so many exciting possibilities to choose from. When I found out it would be about a young President Snow, I was disappointed. We don't really need to know more about him because we know he is the worst, and we don't really need to hear any more tales of sad white man woe leads to justification for murder. I still decided to read the book because I loved the original trilogy, I love Collins' writing, and I was curious about what we'd get to see and about the girl from District 12 that was featured in the book trailer. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place shortly after the end of the war between the districts and the Capital, right before the 10th Hunger Games. Even in the Capital, things are not good. People are poor, hungry, and suffering. Coriolanus Snow is a young student about to graduate. His once great family is in dire financial trouble after his father died in the war. They try to keep up pretenses, but Snow, his cousin Tigris, and his grandmother are often hungry, eating nothing but cabbage soup and beans to survive. He still aspires to succeed and hopes to find a way to get to university and help his family become great once again. The interesting thing we find out is that even the Capital isn't a fan of the Hunger Games. In order to generate more interest, students from Snow's school are paired with the tributes. They will plan strategy, train them, introduce them, etc. Snow hopes to get a strong tribute, preferably from 1 or 2, but is disappointed to receive the female tribute from District 12. Lucy surprises him by making a splash at her reaping, and Snow decides he might be able to use her just yet. Throughout the book, we see the starts of the Hunger Games we know from the original series come into shape. Katniss was treated to luxury when she entered the Capital, but these tributes are starved and kept in an old zoo while surrounded by rats. Snow ends up coming up with the ideas of betting on the tributes and sponsoring the tributes throughout the games. Telling the origin story of a known villain is always going to be tricky. Make them too sympathetic, and it might not be believable, but there also has to be something that started it all. Nobody is born evil, right? Snow has some moments of decency, but he is ultimately shifty and calculating even when good. He's motivated by purely selfish gain, all that "Snow rises on top" stuff he spews. In the end, I hate him just as much, though I do wonder if maybe the obsession with roses was also to cover up the smell of all his inevitable cabbage farts.

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Kettle Springs, Minnesota seems like your average Midwest town. It's very rural, surrounded by a lot of corn fields and farms. The town is small and dying after the local corn syrup factory, Baypen, closed its doors. A lot of residents blame the problems on one thing: teenagers. These kids these days are always filming crazy pranks on their phones, disrespecting elders and traditions, commiting arson (Okay, that one actually is bad). Certain members of the community have had enough, but they came up with a plan that will get rid of the kids and save Kettle Springs at the same time. Quinn and her father just moved to Kettle Springs. He is taking over the medical practice after the previous doctor moved away, and they both need a change after her mother died. On her first day at school, Quinn is lumped in with Cole and his gang of troublemakers after they are punished by a vindictive teacher. Cole is the son of the owner of Baypen, rich but also sad and troubled. He was basically abandoned by his father after the accidental death of his sister. At Founders Day, Cole's friends set off firecrackers during the parade. It was supposed to be a harmless prank, but it snowballs into a disaster. After that, the plan is set in motion. Cole's friend Janet planned a big Founder's Day party out in a corn field while the owners are on vacation. There's music, bonfires, and lots of alcohol. It's an amazing party...then the clown attacks. Frendo, mascot of Baypen and beloved icon of Kettle Springs, takes out teenagers left and right with a crossbow. When they run for cover in the barn, Frendo sets the building on fire and shoots anyone who tries to escape. After they manage to take the clown out with some very helpful guns courtesy of Quinn's neighbor Rust, they discover there are more Frendos trying to kill them, armed with more weapons. There's no cell service out in the corn fields, and all the cars have had their tires slashed and engines removed. It comes down to teenagers versus killer clowns as the kids have to fight and kill for survival. Clowns in a Cornfield was definitely appropriate for spoopy season (Note: I read it in October). It's like reading one of those teen slasher movies. There's some suspense and a fairly good amount of gore and death. I was pretty surprised to find myself siding with the teenagers in this story, because like the band My Chemical Romance, teenagers scare the living sh*t out of me. But the adults in this story are dumbasses, with their stupid murder plan and their "Make Kettle Springs Great Again" slogan, and yes, it is meant that way. So, yeah, it's a bloodbath, and a good portion of Kettle Springs' youth are murdered, but in the end, they *SPOILER* still win, the young still come out on top, although they are left with raging amounts of PTSD and a bunch of therapy all around. I also really appreciated the resolution of the Quinn/Cole/Rust triangle thing...that was fun.