I Wish I’d Written: Lucy Christopher chooses The Hunger Games

Lucy Christopher admires a novel with a gutsy heroine…

There are so many books I wish I’d written! The one that springs to mind right now is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It’s such a fabulous idea; one that has all the necessary drama and intrigue, as well as the sexual tension that all good teen novels seem to have these days. I particularly admire her world building. I’ve wanted to write a fantasy or sci-fi novel for a long time now, but it’s the world building that keeps tripping me up. It’s one thing to create a realistic world as accurately as you can – you can research this – but quite another to create a realistic fantasy world. It takes a special type of mind indeed, and Collins has just this.

Another reason why I wished I’d written this novel is because I’d love to spend some more time with Peeta. I’m in love with him – his selfless devotion to Katniss, his bravery, his gorgeousness (as readers will know from my character of Ty, I’m a sucker for steel blue eyes!). I think Peeta may be one of my favourite ever YA heroes (however, Gale ain’t bad either!).

The final reason why I wished I’d written this is Katniss herself. It’s so refreshing and empowering to have a young female heroine as gutsy as she is: someone who creates the action and story line, rather than is determined by it. She’s a fantastic role model to young (and not so young!) women everywhere!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is published by Scholastic (978 1 4071 0908 4) at £6.99 pbk.

Lucy Christopher’s latest book Flyaway (978 1 905294 76 3) is published by Chicken House at £6.99.