The Hunger Games

© 2008, Scholastic Press

In the future, North America is in ruins.  The government has broken down and has been replaced with the Capitol.  At one time there were 13 districts… until the rebellion and now 12 districts exist only to cater to the needs of the Capitol. The 13th district’s memory is to serve as reminder that no one shall rebel and rise up against the way things are again.  Another reminder is The Hunger Games.  Every year, each district is forced to choose 2 tributes to represent their district – a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18.  Everyone in the age range must enter, every single year. Some of the poor even choose to barter an extra entry for a meager ration of food. In some districts it’s an honor and they train their youth to be tributes, to volunteer to take the place of those who are chosen.  In other districts, it’s a death sentence and no one would dare volunteer to go in their place. The object of the game is simple – Live.  The last tribute alive is the victor and will be showered with food and fortune, special housing and fame.  The country will watch as one teenager from their home district kills off the other or gets killed themselves, as the entire game is broadcast across the country.  Alliances are formed, but eventually they must be broken. Only one can survive. This is life and death in the most primal sense.

16 year old Katniss has been the provider for her younger sister and mother since her father died 5 years prior in a coal mining explosion (District 12 is the coal mining district – and the country’s poorest district).  Through the years, her hunting skills have developed and Katniss keeps her family in good shape. She lives to protect the one person she truly loves, her little sister.  On the day of the reaping (the ceremony in each district that selects the tributes for the Hunger Games), against all odds,  the girl who is selected is Katniss’s 12 year old sister, Prim.  Katniss immediately volunteers to take her place as a tribute, considering this a life sacrifice, but she would never be able to live with herself sending her sister off to be killed in the games.  It is the only option.  The boy’s name who is drawn turns out to be a boy who saved Katniss’s family when they were near starvation after her father died.  She feels that he is the one person she owes her life to, and now he is someone she will have kill if she ever wants to return home to her family again.

An amazing story of love, friendship, and ultimately, survival. The characters are rich and likeable.  The games are horrifying and brutal. And the questions it raises in the minds of the reader will stay long after the book is over.

It is part of a trilogy – the second book in the series will be released 9/09

Appropriate for ages 12+