the hunger games book report for school

The Hunger Games

By suzanne collins.

• The Hunger Games Summary

The Hunger Games details the adventure of Katniss Everdeen , who is forced to engage in a fight-to-the-death tournament against other children. The novel takes place in Panem, a dystopic country built on what was once North America. In a world of limited resources, the despotic government run by the Capitol keeps its citizens in line by separating them into Districts and reinforcing severe class separations. But their strongest tool to promote disunion and to discourage rebellion is the Hunger Games: a yearly event where two tributes from each district are pitted against each other for the country to watch on television.

Katniss lives with her mother and younger sister Prim in District 12, the poorest of the districts. Ever since her father's death, she has been the family provider, hunting illegally in the woods outside the district with her friend Gale. The novel begins on the day of the "reaping," when each District must select two tributes, one male and one female, to represent them in the Hunger Games. When Prim is selected as the female tribute, Katniss offers herself as volunteer and is allowed to serve as tribute alongside Peeta, a middle class boy from the district.

The remainder of Part One of the novel follows the children as they are both trained for the brutal games and groomed to portray a certain image for the audience. She forces herself into a stoic determination to win, a philosophy made difficult by the kindly Peeta. The relationship is made even more fraught when Peeta confesses during a live interview that he has a crush on Katniss. Though she fears making emotional connections that could compromise her desire to win, she agrees to portray the image of a unified front, an idea proposed by their sponsor Haymitch.

The Games are held in an arena in a forested area. When they begin, Katniss rushes away from the excitement of the initial bloodbath and uses her hunting/survival skills to develop a strategy. She sleeps in trees and hunts game. Each night, faces of the dead are broadcast into the sky. As she stays hidden, she learns that Peeta has allied himself with the "Career Tributes," those tributes from the richer districts who train their entire lives for the Games.

Meanwhile, the Gamemakers , those who design the Games, continue to manipulate the surroundings in order to keep the Games entertaining. After a severe burn following a firestorm, Katniss is trapped in a tree above the Careers. That night, she makes contact with Rue , the youngest tribute, who Katniss associates with Prim. Rue is up a nearby tree and suggests she defeat the Careers by dropping a wasp nest on them. She does so, in the process getting stung herself but also scattering the Careers and gaining for herself a bow, her strongest weapon. The wasp stings produce hallucinations, which slow her down and almost cost her her life, until Peeta helps her to escape. She is understandably confused.

Katniss and Rue form an alliance and make a plan to destroy the supplies that are keeping the Careers powerful. Rue sets fires to distract them while Katniss pieces together that they are protecting their supplies with landmines reappropriated from a Gamemaker design. When she uses the mines to explode the supplies, she is blown backwards and knocked out of commission for a few days. She returns just in time to see Rue killed by another tribute, who then quickly becomes Katniss's first kill. As a small act of rebellion against the Capitol, which expects the tributes to dehumanize one another, Katniss sings to Rue and decorates her corpse with flowers before the body is fetched by the Capitol.

The Gamemakers announce that the rules have changed, and that the two tributes from a district can serve as co-victors. She then finds Peeta, who was cut badly after helping Katniss escape the Careers. She does her best to help him recover, but it isn't until Haymitch sends her a gift following a kiss she shares with him that she understands that playing up the romance angle could pay off.

They spend days growing closer in a cave, but Katniss lacks the skill to cure Peeta's wound. When the Gamemakers announce that a "feast" will be held to draw the tributes together for crucial supplies, she tricks Peeta and heads to the feast. In trying to get her gift, which she assumes is anti-infection medicine for Peeta, she is almost killed by a Career, but saved by the other tribute from Rue's district. Having heard of Katniss's kindness towards Rue, the tribute lets her live.

The medicine cures Peeta, and they spend more time growing closer in the cave. Once the Gamemakers dry up their water supplies, they prepare themselves and head out to face Cato , the only other surviving tribute. But their main challenge turns out not to be Cato, but several wolf-man creatures unleashed by the Gamemakers, creatures reanimated from the corpses of dead tributes. Katniss and Peeta escape by climbing to higher ground, while the other tribute falls and is tortured by the creatures. Finally, Katniss kills the tribute with her arrow out of mercy.

They have won the Games, but the Gamemakers rescind the rule about dual victors. Peeta and Katniss threaten to commit dual suicide, which would ruin the Games, and they are hence awarded a dual victory.

They are fetched by the Capitol representatives, and separated for a long period of recovery. When they are brought out to the audience again, Haymitch warns Katniss that she needs to overplay the lovers angle as a defense for her threat to commit suicide, which the Capitol considers an act of rebellion. Over the period of fanfare that follows, she takes his advice, which makes Peeta, who actually does love her, very happy.

When all is done, they head back to District 12, and Katniss lets slip along the way that her affection was always for the cameras. Though not the entire truth, she is torn between her old identity as a poor hunter, and the more complex one she shaped through the Games. Peeta is heartbroken, but understands they must maintain an image as they prepare to present themselves to their district.

The Hunger Games Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Hunger Games is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

In what ways does “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” explore themes of morality, manipulation and survival?

The novel explores the hollowness of ambition and the desire for power, as well as the moral conflict and internal conflict that the Hunger Games provoke. The story also delves into the complexity of human nature and he choices individuals make...

In The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, was Lucy Gray Baird the one who came up with The Hanging Tree?

I believe so. Coriolanus Snow thought that the song was written for Billy Taupe, her ex-boyfriend who cheated on her with the Mayor's daughter but he realized that the song was written for him.

Katniss' father I believe told her the song but...

In the 4th HG book versus the 3rd or 2nd HG book, what did both Snow and Everdeen think The Hanging Tree was about?

Pages 485-487 in The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes:

The Hanging Tree. Her old meeting spot with Billy Taupe. That's where she wanted him to meet her. Who did she mean? Billy Taupe telling her to come there so they'd be free? Her telling him ...

Study Guide for The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games study guide contains a biography of Suzanne Collins, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Hunger Games
• Character List

Essays for The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

• The Danger of Ritual and Tradition in "The Hunger Games" and “The Lottery”
• Feminist Studies of Experience in The Hunger Games
• Defining and Defying Female Stereotypes: A Comparison of Charlotte Temple and Katniss Everdeen
• New Social Order
• Trust in the Hunger Games

Lesson Plan for The Hunger Games

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Hunger Games
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Hunger Games Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Hunger Games

• Introduction

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The hunger games, book 1, common sense media reviewers.

Exciting, provocative tale of lethal reality show.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Beginning with elements of the Theseus myth, where

Love of and loyalty to family, friends, and commun

Katniss is a strong and capable warrior who bravel

Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl who's up against

For a story about 24 kids forced to kill each othe

Characters kiss and have crushes, and a love story

"Hell," plus descriptions of cursing that don't ap

No product placements in the book, but this is the

Adults drink, and one key character is often drunk

Parents need to know that The Hunger Games is a best-selling story about a dystopian society where the government forces 24 kids to kill one another until only one remains. The main Hunger Games series of three books was adapted into four movies starring Jennifer Lawrence. Even though many teen characters die…

Educational Value

Beginning with elements of the Theseus myth, where a leader demands sacrifice from young people in his country, author Collins highlights gaps between the wealthy and poor in a dystopian society with contemporary political and social trends set within a reality show competition. Great discussion starters for middle-school and up book groups, in which students will quickly make fruitful connections to our own society. Readers also learn a bit about how to survive in the wilderness.

Positive Messages

Love of and loyalty to family, friends, and community are powerful motivations. Compassion, humanity, bravery, and integrity are the seeds of rebellion and hope for oppressed people. This book shows the media at its manipulative worst, using contestants as pawns to both shock and entertain, and is a reminder to analyze messages critically.

Positive Role Models

Katniss is a strong and capable warrior who bravely takes the place of her younger sister in the deadly competition. Peeta is committed to keeping Katniss alive and risks death to stay true to himself. Both persevere through many dangers. Supporting characters such as Haymitch and Effie, while flawed in their own ways, are encouraging and caring mentors and help coach Katniss and Peeta through the games.

Diverse Representations

Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl who's up against the crushing force of her government, is the heart and soul of the story. She isn't restrained by gender norms as she hunts and provides for her family back home, yet she's forced into a feminine stereotype in her love story with Peeta, her fellow tribute, as she struggles to survive the games. Most characters, especially the wealthy and privileged groups in each district, are implied to be White. But Katniss and others from District 12 are described with olive skin, dark hair, and gray eyes, and Rue and Thresh from District 11 are Black. Spoiler alert: Peeta's leg is amputated at the end of the story, and he learns to live with the disability.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

For a story about 24 kids forced to kill each other for entertainment, the gore level is lower and less bloody than expected -- but there is some. Teens are speared, shot with arrows, stabbed, mauled by wild animals, burned, and have their heads smashed and their necks broken. Injuries are realistic, including burn blistering, blood poisoning, and gangrene with plenty of pus. A boy's face is mauled to the point that Katniss describes it as a "hunk of meat where his mouth was," and someone twitches to death from bad insect stings. Mention that a leg had to be amputated. Talk of past games and what happened with the story of one boy trying to eat the bodies of those he killed. Also talk of the oppression experienced by those who don't live in the Capitol, with rampant starvation, tongues being cut out, public whippings for people trying to eat the food that they grow, and a boy getting shot for taking a pair of glasses. Many detailed descriptions of how Katniss' father died in a mining explosion and how her family almost starved afterward when her mom fell into a depressive state.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Characters kiss and have crushes, and a love story between two tributes is a central theme in this survival story. Mentions of bare bodies in the context of healing wounds.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"Hell," plus descriptions of cursing that don't appear in text.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

No product placements in the book, but this is the story that spawned a multibillion dollar franchise of several movies with accompanying games, toys, and other merch in its marketing.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink, and one key character is often drunk (it's implied that he abuses alcohol to cope with trauma). A 16-year-old teen tries wine but doesn't like the fuzzy feeling it gives her and switches back to water.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Hunger Games is a best-selling story about a dystopian society where the government forces 24 kids to kill one another until only one remains. The main Hunger Games series of three books was adapted into four movies starring Jennifer Lawrence . Even though many teen characters die -- by spear, rock, arrow, knife, fire, animal stings, poisoning, and more -- there are few truly gory moments. Perhaps the worst is when a boy's face is mauled by animals to the point that main character Katniss says there's a "hunk of meat where his mouth was." There are stories about the daily hardships and violence experienced by everyone outside the privileged Capitol, including how Katniss' father died in a mining explosion. Adults drink, including one key adult character who's frequently drunk. Characters kiss and have crushes. Language includes "hell," and there are descriptions of cursing that don't appear in the text. Kids' readiness for this kind of premise depends on their ability to read for a deeper meaning, and there are many layers here to discuss, including how compassion, humanity, courage, and integrity are the seeds of rebellion and hope for oppressed people.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (239)
• Kids say (1217)

Based on 239 parent reviews

Desensitizes young readers to violence.

Important lessons, what's the story.

THE HUNGER GAMES is set in the future, after the United States is gone. In its place is Panem, in which the privileged Capitol rules over 12 districts. To maintain an iron grip, the Capitol holds an annual televised program, a lethal competition to which each district must send one boy and one girl, who are known as "tributes." Out of these 24 kids, only one will survive. Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to take her sister's place, and Peeta Mellark are District 12's tributes, but their competition is complicated by the fact that Peeta falls in love with Katniss.

Is It Any Good?

Author Suzanne Collins blends elements that are both classical and modern to produce a story that, if not entirely new, still bears her unique imprint. Beginning with elements of the Theseus myth, she mixes in a large dollop of Battle Royale by Koushun Takami, elements of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery , reality TV shows like Survivor , and political and social trends. But she makes the resulting story her own, and The Hunger Games avoids feeling derivative through her poignant characters and the complex interplay of personal feelings and political machinations.

Collins does all this in the context of an all-out action-thriller that's told in straight-ahead yet subtle prose with a carefully calibrated level of edgy violence that doesn't go over the line. A story of teens massacring one another could, in the hands of a different author, have been overly sensational. But by keeping the focus relentlessly on the personal, Collins makes it both moving and thought-provoking. The Hunger Games will be a terrific discussion starter for middle-school literature groups, in which students will quickly make connections to contemporary society.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the popularity of The Hunger Games. Why has it struck such a chord with readers?

How is Katniss and Peeta's story manipulated by the Capitol media? How do they play along? Why is it sometimes essential for their survival? Are there any reality shows you watch that have moments that ring false to you? How can you tell?

Why are dystopian novels so popular? What are some of your favorites?

Describe scenes when Katniss, Peeta, and other characters model courage , compassion , and integrity . How do these character strengths inspire or give others hope in times of struggle or stress?

Katniss shows a remarkable amount of perseverance throughout the story. What helps her keep going? What and who helps you keep going when things are hard in your life?

Book Details

• Author : Suzanne Collins
• Genre : Science Fiction
• Topics : Activism , Magic and Fantasy , Sports and Martial Arts , Adventures , Brothers and Sisters , Friendship , Great Boy Role Models , Great Girl Role Models
• Character Strengths : Compassion , Courage , Integrity , Perseverance
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Scholastic Inc.
• Publication date : September 14, 2008
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 17
• Number of pages : 374
• Available on : Paperback, Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
• Award : Kids' Choice Award
• Last updated : May 6, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The Hunger Games

Suzanne collins, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Hunger Games: Introduction

The hunger games: plot summary, the hunger games: detailed summary & analysis, the hunger games: themes, the hunger games: quotes, the hunger games: characters, the hunger games: symbols, the hunger games: theme wheel, brief biography of suzanne collins.

Historical Context of The Hunger Games

Other books related to the hunger games.

• Full Title: The Hunger Games
• When Written: mid-to-late 2000s
• Where Written: Connecticut, United States
• When Published: September 2008
• Literary Period: Contemporary
• Genre: Dystopian fiction; Young Adult fiction
• Setting: Fictional dystopia known as Panem, created after the governments of North America collapsed
• Climax: When Peeta and Katniss threaten to eat the poisoned berries rather than kill one another to win the Hunger Games
• Antagonist: President Snow, the Peacekeepers, those who watch the Hunger Games in the Capitol
• Point of View: First person, Katniss’s perspective

Extra Credit for The Hunger Games

Breaking Records. Shortly after publication, The Hunger Games appeared on both The New York Times Best Seller list and USA Today ’s best-sellers list, where it remained for over a hundred weeks. In 2012, Amazon also announced that Suzanne Collins had become the best-selling Kindle author of all time.

Parental Guidance Suggested. The American Library Association listed The Hunger Games as the third most challenged book of 2010, citing excessive violence and sexual content unsuited to the age group.

The Hunger Games

89 pages • 2 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-5

Part 1, Chapters 6-9

Part 2, Chapters 10-14

Part 2, Chapters 15-18

Part 3, Chapters 19-23

Part 3, Chapters 24-27

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

The Hunger Games is a best-selling young adult novel, the first in Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy. It details the life of teenage heroine Katniss Everdeen as she fights to the death for the entertainment of her fascist government. Since its publication in 2008, the trilogy has sold more than 65 million copies in the United States alone and, in 2019, was listed as one of 100 most influential novels by BBC News . The Hunger Games books were adapted into films starring Jennifer Lawrence. The film series is also highly acclaimed, resulting in 55 awards and 140 award nominations.

Plot Summary

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The story takes place in Panem, a postapocalyptic America divided into districts that are controlled by the Capitol. Protagonist and first-person narrator Katniss Everdeen is from District 12, which supplies the coal that powers the nation. The districts suffer from poverty and oppression made worse by the fact that every year, two “tributes” from each district must fight to the death in the Hunger Games. Those tributes are always children.

The book begins with Katniss and her younger sister Prim preparing for the reaping, the ceremony in which tributes are chosen. Katniss reflects on her role in her family. Her father died five years ago in an explosion at the coal mine. Since then, her mother has been despondent and neglectful. Katniss is a proficient hunter with a host of survival skills learned from her father and her friend Gale , which she uses to provide for her family.

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At the reaping, Peeta, a boy Katniss’s age, is selected. So is Prim. To save her sister, Katniss volunteers to take Prim’s place. After, Katniss remembers the first time she met Peeta. He gave her bread from his family’s bakery because she was starving and was punished for it. The two have barely interacted since, but Katniss hopes she won’t have to kill Peeta, as that would be a poor way to repay his kindness.

The tributes are taken to the Capitol, where they meet the other tributes; their trainer, Haymitch; and their team of stylists led by Cinna, who befriends Katniss. Haymitch promises Peeta and Katniss that he will stay sober during their games to try to get them sponsors, who can send life-saving supplies to the tributes. Thanks to Cinna’s styling efforts, Katniss and Peeta become stars in the Capitol. The tributes then go to the training center, where they are assigned odds of winning. Katniss impresses and frightens the Gamemakers by shooting an arrow into their midst. During a televised interview prior to the games, Peeta tells host Caesar Flickerman that he is in love with Katniss, entrancing the audience by spinning a tragic love story.

The games begin the next day. About half the tributes die trying to grab supplies from a large cornucopia at the arena’s center, but Katniss heads for the forest. She quickly learns that the Gamemakers can change the arena when they light a forest fire that chases her away from its rim. She camps in a tree to avoid a group of tributes who have allied and are hunting her. Katniss is shocked to discover Peeta among them. Another tribute hiding in a nearby tree—Rue, a girl near Prim’s age—helps Katniss escape by pointing out a tracker jacker nest (tracker jackers are stinging insects that cause hallucinations and large welts) in Katniss’s tree.

When Katniss saws off the tree branch with the nest, the group below scatters, and one among them dies from stings. Katniss takes the dead girl’s arrows to use with her bow. Stung three times herself, Katniss passes out from the venom. When she wakes, Rue has saved her with plants to draw the venom out. The pair form an alliance and devise a plan to attack the Careers, the group trying to hunt Katniss. The Careers are hording a food supply, and Katniss and Rue plan to destroy that too. Rue will set fires to lure the Careers away from their base, and Katniss will destroy their supply. When Katniss realizes they buried mines to protect the stash, she triggers one of the mines, successfully blowing up the supply. Although Katniss survives, Rue is attacked. Katniss tries to save her but arrives only in time for Rue to die in her arms. Reminded of her sister, Katniss buries Rue with flowers in defiance of the Capitol.

The rules then change: Two tributes will be permitted to win, so long as they’re from the same district. Katniss realizes she and Peeta can both live and goes to find him. He is injured, but she looks after him until he heals, with the help of medicine that Katniss nearly dies to obtain. She learns that Peeta was trying to throw off the Careers from hunting her, and the two play into a charade of romance to elicit more support from sponsors. Prior to the climax, they find toxic nightlock berries, which Katniss keeps.

The Gamemakers force Katniss and Peeta out of their cave toward the arena’s center. There they find Cato—one of the Careers and the only other surviving tribute—who is being chased by muttations, hideous hounds with the eyes of fallen tributes. After they defeat Cato, an announcement declares that only one tribute may survive. Katniss convinces Peeta that they should eat the nightlock berries and die together. Right before they are about to kill themselves, they are both proclaimed champions of the Hunger Games. They return to a life of plenty in District 12, but the danger is only just beginning. The Capitol now has a target on Katniss due to her rebellious actions, which sets the stage for the novel’s sequels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay .

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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - review

In a place once known as North America, now known as Panem, is a very rich City surrounded by twelve Districts. Every year because this very rich City, known as The Capitol, is so rich and likes to think they control all the Districts - which they do - there is something known as The Hunger Games! This is where two children, one boy and one girl from each district from the ages of twelve to eighteen, have to leave their families and compete in The Hunger Games , a live event that is aired on TV's all over Panem. When Katniss Everdeen, aged sixteen from District 12, has to volunteer to take the place of her twelve-year-old sister Prim after Prim's name is called forth to become the 23rd member to compete in The 74th Hunger Games, she promises to Prim that she will win!

Katniss doesn't believe she's coming out alive - but she's not going down without a fight.

Because District 12 is so poor, Katniss has been close to death many times from starvation but she's made it through it. But this is a different kind of close to death; this Katniss doesn't know if she can survive.

She doesn't want to hurt, or kill anyone but when it comes down to it Katniss' instinct is to survive. But when she starts to have confusing feelings about the boy from her district who is also her fellow contender, things get worse, and then she teams up with the girl from District 11 and only one person can survive. But who will it be? Will her feelings get the better of her? Will she let someone else win so they don't have to die? If Katniss is going to win she's going to have to be brutal. She's going to have to kill!

This is the second time I have read The Hunger Games! And since reading it the first time round I've wanted to read it again! But I just have so many books I haven't read and it's hard to balance it right but finally I've decided to read them again! The Hunger Games was DEFINITELY the best series I read last year! I would really suggest reading it if you haven't yet! It's really different from lots of the other stuff I read. And it's a good book to take you somewhere else; I could really get into The Hunger Game and I've been able to get into it reading it the second time round. Although it is more difficult reading it the second time round because I have now seen the film and I imagined it completely differently to how they did it in the film - and I liked my version better. I'm going straight onto the next one, Catching Fire, as you can't resist reading them all as quickly as possible as soon as you've started!

The book was 100% better than the film. A good book to sit down with on a horrible rain day! It makes you happy to be alive and happy to know that you are not going to be entered in a competition where you are to fight to your death every year. But it's a great story! And a great idea for a story. It's one of the books I wish I had written myself! One of my favourite series of book ever! I highly suggest reading it, and hope Suzanne Collins goes on to write more teen fiction as The Hunger Games was so good! I would read anything by her without batting an eyelid! One of the best authors out there at the moment in my opinion! Good job Suzanne Collins!

I would rate it ten million stars... If I could but I can't, so I will rate a very well earned five stars!

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The Hunger Games: book review (B1)

They say it's the new Twilight, but better. Have you read The Hunger Games?

Instructions

Do the preparation exercise first and then read the article. If you find it too easy, try the next level. If it's too difficult, try the lower level. After reading, do the exercises to check your understanding.

Preparation

A literary success.

The Hunger Games is a very successful book for young readers by the American author Suzanne Collins. It was published in 2008 and has sold millions of copies around the world. It is the first book for young readers to sell more than a million electronic copies. It has also been translated into 26 different languages. The Hunger Games is also now a very successful film. It made 152.5 million dollars in its first weekend in North America alone!

A fight to the death

The story takes place in the future, after the destruction of North America. The country is called Panem. There are twelve poor districts governed by the rich Capitol. The Capitol dominates the nation. Each district has to produce different things for the Capitol. District 12, where the story begins, provides all the coal for the country. There used to be a thirteenth district in the past but they rebelled against the Capitol and were destroyed.

The Hunger Games are an annual event. The Capitol uses them to punish the districts for rebelling. One boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 are chosen from each district to fight in a battle, in which only one person can survive. The chosen teenagers are called “tributes”. The whole country is forced to watch the games on television.

The heroine is Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old girl. Her father worked in the mine but he died in an accident and now she has to provide food for her family. She hunts in the woods around district 12 with her friend Gale, using a bow and arrow. When her younger sister, Prim, is chosen as one of the tributes, Katniss volunteers to go instead. The other tribute from District 12 is a boy named Peeta.

Where did the idea for The Hunger Games come from?

One night in 2003, Suzanne Collins was changing between channels on TV. It was at the time of the US invasion of Iraq. The only programmes she could find on TV were ‘reality’ programmes of young people competing to win a million dollars and news programmes about the war. Suzanne says that the two things started to merge together in her mind and the idea for The Hunger Games came to her. She has always found news programmes of wars upsetting. When she was a child, her father was a pilot in the US Air Force and he fought in Vietnam. It was a very frightening experience for her.

Another important inspiration for the book comes from Suzanne’s love of Greek mythology. When she was a child, one of her favourite stories was Theseus and the Minotaur. In this story the city of Athens is ruled by Crete, but the Athenians rebel. As a punishment, Minos the king of Crete forces the Athenians to send seven boys and seven girls to Crete every year. The young people are thrown into the labyrinth and eaten by a monster that lives there called the Minotaur. But one of the youths, named Theseus, fights the Minotaur and kills it.

Too much violence?

As The Hunger Games has become more popular, some parents in the US have complained about the violence in the book. However,  Suzanne says that she was becoming very worried about how much violence we see on TV nowadays. She wanted to show people where this could end up in the future. She is also concerned about the amount of reality TV we watch. “We put too much of our lives on TV,” she says. “And we are becoming desensitised because of this. It’s OK not to care about a sitcom, but when it’s real tragedy, that’s different. It’s real life and it’s not going to go away when the advertisements come on.” She said that writing about the deaths and violence in the story was the hardest thing for her to do and she hopes it will make people think about what they watch in future.

Brendan Dunne

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The Hunger Games

At–a–glance, what is it.

The award-winning and bestselling futuristic series for teen readers by Suzanne Collins

Who’s it for?

Readers ages 12 to adult

VISIT THE SITE

scholastic.com/hungergames Hunger Games on Facebook

Author Photos & Downloads

Click here for hi-res cover images, official Suzanne Collins author photos, and more.

Release Date

The Hunger Games was released in September 2008. Catching Fire, the second book of The Hunger Games series, was published September 1, 2009.  Mockingjay was released August 24, 2010, and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was published May 19, 2020.

More Information

Tracy van Straaten [email protected]

The Hunger Games Illustrated Edition - Coming October 1, 2024

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

#1 USA Today Bestseller #1 New York Times Bestseller #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller #1 Publishers Weekly Bestseller

“A home run of a best seller by publishing’s standards.”

             - The New York Times

“The top [selling] book in the first half of 2020.”

             - Publishers Weekly

“It is a steep challenge to write a book whose hero is, everyone knows, destined to become deeply evil. Do we want to hear — now, after we know the endgame — that the young Voldemort was unfairly saddled with a demerit in class or that the adolescent Sauron fretted because he had to wear hand-me-down clothes? Yes, please.”

“[M]esmerizing…Collins once again proves that she is a master of building a fascinating world around complex characters.”

             - The Associated Press

“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes builds on the original series’ overt critique of violence and those who perpetuate it, again in terms that speak to a more mature audience than their young-adult marketing might suggest. For true fans of The Hunger Games, Collins shines most as she weaves in tantalizing details that lend depth to the gruesome world she created in the original series and Coriolanus’s place in its history.

             - TIME

“[B]y introducing a new cast of teenagers, Collins is able to raise questions about privilege, the uses of violence, and the futility of war. ”

             - PEOPLE

             - Kirkus Reviews,  starred review

“A gripping mix of whipsaw plot twists and propulsive writing make this story's complex issues—vulnerability and abuse, personal responsibility, and institutionalized power dynamics—vivid and personal.”

             - Publishers Weekly  

The Associated Press:  New ‘Hunger Games’ Book Sells More Than 500,000 Copies , May 27, 2020

Scholastic Releases New Interview with Suzanne Collins, Author of the Worldwide Bestselling Hunger Games Series , May 19, 2020

Scholastic Announces Tony Award-Winning Actor Santino Fontana as Narrator for Audio Edition of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins , April 8, 2020

Scholastic Announces Title and Cover for New Novel in the Worldwide Bestselling Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins , October 4, 2019

Scholastic to Publish New Novel in the Worldwide Bestselling Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins , June 17, 2019

MOCKINGJAY:

#1 USA Today Bestseller #1 New York Times Bestseller #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller #1 Publishers Weekly Bestseller A New York Times Notable Children's Book of 2010 A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice A 2010 Booklist Editors' Choice A 2010 Kirkus Best Book of the Year A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2010

“Fans will be happy to hear that Mockingjay is every bit as complex and imaginative as Hunger Games and Catching Fire ."

             - Entertainment Weekly

“Suspenseful... Collins' fans, grown-ups included, will race to the end."

             - USA Today

“At its best the trilogy channels the political passion of 1984 , the memorable violence of A Clockwork Orange , the imaginative ambience of The Chronicles of Narnia and the detailed inventiveness of Harry Potter ."

             - New York Times Book Review

“Unfolding in Collins' engaging, intelligent prose and assembled into chapters that end with didn't-see-that-coming cliffhangers, this finale is every bit the pressure cooker of its forebears. [ Mockingjay ] is nearly as shocking, and certainly every bit as original and thought provoking, as The Hunger Games . Wow."

             - Los Angeles Times

             - Publishers Weekly , starred review

CATCHING FIRE:

#1 USA Today Bestseller #1 New York Times Bestseller #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller #1 Publishers Weekly Bestseller A Time Magazine Top 10 Fiction Book of 2009 A People Magazine (Top 10) Best Book of 2009 A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice A Los Angeles Times Best Children’s Book of 2009 A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009 A Booklist Editors' Choice 2009 A Kirkus Best Book of 2009

“Whereas Katniss kills with finesse, Collins writes with raw power."

            - Time Magazine

“Collins expertly blends fantasy, romance and political intrigue (so who needs vampires?)."

             - People Magazine

“Collins has joined J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer as a writer of children's books that adults are eager to read.”

            -Bloomberg.com

“ Catching Fire not only lived up to my high expectations, it surpassed them. It's just as exciting as The Hunger Games , but even more gut wrenching, because you already know these characters,  you've already suffered with them.”

            -Stephenie Meyer, www.stepheniemeyer.com

THE HUNGER GAMES:

#1 USA Today  Bestseller #1 New York Times Bestseller #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller A Publishers Weekly Bestseller A Horn Book Fanfare A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2008 A School Library Journal Best Book of 2008 A Booklist Editors’ Choice A New York Times Notable Book of 2008 A Kirkus Best Book of 2008 A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice 

“I couldn't stop reading."

             -Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly

“The Hunger Games is amazing.”

-Stephenie Meyer, www.stepheniemeyer.com

“Brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced.”

-John Green, The New York Times Book Review

• Scholastic has more than 100 million copies of The Hunger Games books in print worldwide ( The Hunger Games ,  Catching Fire,   Mockingjay, and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ). 
• The Hunger Games  spent more than 260 consecutive weeks/more than five consecutive years to on  The New York Times bestseller list, and has also appeared consistently on  USA Today  and  Publishers Weekly  bestseller lists.
• Released by Lionsgate Entertainment, The Hunger Games is a global blockbuster film franchise that has spawned four record-breaking films from 2012-2015 and, collectively, the films have grossed over $3 billion at the global box office. The films boast a star-studded cast including Academy Award® winner Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Academy Award® nominee Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland. The world of The Hunger Games that Suzanne Collins created continues to grow as theme parks and special attractions launch around the globe. Now fans around the world also can engage in immersive experiences such as The World of the Hunger Games at Motiongate Dubai and The Hunger Games in Concert Global Tour . The next film in the franchise, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes , will be released on November 17, 2023.
• The Hunger Games trilogy has been sold into 54 territories in 52 languages to date.
• Suzanne Collins named to the  Entertainment Weekly  2010 Entertainers of the Year list  (December 3, 2010)
• Suzanne Collins named to the  2010  TIME  100  list (April 29, 2010)
• List of awards and citations for The Hunger Games trilogy
• Year of the Jungle , Suzanne Collins’s picture book based on the year her father was deployed in Viet Nam, with illustrations by James Proimos, was published September 10, 2013.

Announcements/News

Scholastic to Publish Illustrated Edition of Suzanne Collins' Worldwide Bestseller The Hunger Games (January 18, 2024)

Scholastic to Publish a Trade Paperbck and a Movie-Tie-In Edition of Worldwide Bestselling Hunger Games Prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (April 13, 2023)

Scholastic Releases New Interview with Suzanne Collins, Author of the Worldwide Bestselling Hunger Games Series (May 19, 2020)

Scholastic Announces Tony Award-Winning Actor Santino Fontana as Narrator for Audio Edition of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (April 8, 2020)

Scholastic Announces Title and Cover for New Novel in the Worldwide Bestselling Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins (October 4, 2019)

Scholastic to Publish New Novel in the Worldwide Bestselling Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins (June 17, 2019)

Scholastic to Publish The Hunger Games Special Edition by Suzanne Collins to Celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of The Hunger Games (April 19, 2018)

Scholastic to Publish Year of the Jungle , an Autobiographical Picture Book by Suzanne Collins in Fall 2013 (November 29, 2012)

Scholastic Announces Updated U.S. Figures for Suzanne Collins's Bestselling The Hunger Games Trilogy (July 19, 2012)

Scholastic Announces Updated U.S. In-print Figures for Suzanne Collins' Bestselling The Hunger Games Trilogy (March 28, 2012)

A Message from Suzanne Collins about The Hunger Games Movie (March 1, 2012)

Scholastic to Add new Title to The Hunger Games Movie Tie-in Program (November 3, 2011)

Lionsgate Joins Scribd, Donorschoose.org, and Scholastic for The Hunger Games National Literacy Month Campaign (September 1, 2011)

Scholastic Introduces Gift Edition of The Hunger Games (Holiday 2011), To Be Followed by Movie Tie-In Program (Spring 2012) (June 16, 2011)

Scholastic announces Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon, is winner of Mockingjay display contest with prize of store visit by Suzanne Collins (October 21, 2010)

Mockingjay tops all national bestseller lists with sales of more than 450,000 copies in its first week of publication, and Scholastic goes back to press for an additional 400,000 copies (September 2, 2010)

Scholastic Increases First Printing of Mockingjay , the Final Book of The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, to 1.2 Million Copies and Announces Fall Tour Markets (July 1, 2010)

Suzanne Collins's Third Book in The Hunger Games Trilogy to be Published on August 24, 2010 (December 3, 2009)

Scholastic Publishes Catching Fire

Scholastic Publishes The Hunger Games

LionsGate Acquires Worldwide Distribution Rights for The Hunger Games Film (March 17, 2009)

Interviews with Suzanne Collins

• Publisher and Editorial Director David Levithan interviews Suzanne Collins on the eve of the publication of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (May 19, 2020)
• Time Magazine interviews Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence (November 2013)
• The New York Times Magazine profiles Suzanne Collins (April 10, 2011)
• Entertainment Weekly interviews Suzanne Collins and Gary Ross, director of The Hunger Games movie (April 7, 2011)
• The Associated Press  interviews Suzanne Collins (September 2010)
• Entertainment Weekly interviews Suzanne Collins about her favorite books (August 2010)
• School Library Journal interviews Suzanne Collins about the forthcoming publication of Mockingjay (August 2010)
• NPR's  All Things Considered  interviews Suzanne Collins about Catching Fire (September 2009)
• USA Today  interviews Suzanne Collins about Catching Fire (September 2009)
• The Los Angeles Times  interviews Suzanne Collins  about Catching Fire (September 2009)
• RT Interview with Suzanne Collins (September, 2009)
• School Library Journal interviews Suzanne Collins about The Hunger Games (September, 2008)
• Newsweek interviews Suzanne Collins about The Hunger Games (September, 2008)
• Video interview with Suzanne Collins about The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2009)
• Q&A with Suzanne Collins  (Scholastic, 2010)

Press Coverage

• Associated Press : "An illustrated edtion of the First 'Hunger Games' will come out Oct. 1" (January 18, 2024)
• Publishers Weekly : “ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes [is] the top [selling] book in the first half of 2020.” (July 10, 2020)
• The Associated Press : “New ‘Hunger Games’ book sells more than 500,000 copies” (May 27, 2020) 
• Publishers Weekly : “Independent Booksellers Plan Digital Celebrations for New Hunger Games Book” (May 14, 2020)
• The Associated Press : “The Promotion Will Be Virtual for New Hunger Games Novel” (May 14, 2020)
• Entertainment Weekly :  “Exclusive excerpt from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes audiobook, read by narrator Santino Fontana (May 12, 2020)
• Entertainment Weekly : Three-part feature: The Hunger Games binge-read, featuring commentary on The Hunger Games , Catching Fire , and Mockingjay from Publisher and Editorial Director David Levithan (May 8, 2020 / May 13, 2020 / May 18, 2020)
• BookPage offers a “peek behind the curtain” of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snake s with an interview with Publisher and Editorial Director David Levithan (May 2020)
• Bustle : Exclusive audio clip of author Suzanne Collins reading an excerpt from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (April 23, 2020)
• Parade previews The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes , including an interview with Publisher and Editorial Director David Levithan (January 30, 2020)
• Entertainment Weekly reveals the first excerpt from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (January 21, 2020) 
• Today.com: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is one of "The 10 Most Anticipated Books for 2020 According to Goodreads Users" (January 6, 2020)
• CNN.com : 20 Things to Look Forward to in 2020 (January 2, 2020)
• New York Times calls The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes one of "20 Books We're Watching for in 2020" (January 1, 2020)
• Glamour.com : Suzanne Collins named one of '104 Women Who Defined the Decade in Pop Culture' (December 20, 2019)
• Entertainment Weekly calls The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes one of "The 50 Most-Anticipated Books of 2020" (December 16, 2019)
• Good Morning America reveals cover and title for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (October 4, 2019)
• New York Times : “’The Hunger Games’ Prequel Is in the Works” (June 17, 2019)
• Associated Press : “‘Hunger Games’ prequel novel coming in 2020” (June 17, 2019)
• NPR Morning Edition “10 Years Since 'The Hunger Games' Began,” interview with Scholastic’s David Levithan (November 2, 2018)
• New York Times : Essay by bestselling author Sabaa Tahir: “Katniss Everdeen Is My Hero.”  (October 2018)
• New York Times : Exclusive excerpt of the Suzanne Collins interview with David Levithan from The Hunger Games Special (10th Anniversary) Edition (October 2018)
• Entertainment Weekly First Listen: Tatiana Maslany to Narrate Hunger Games Special (10th Anniversary) Edition Audiobook  (September 2018)
• Entertainment Weekly previews The Hunger Games Special (10th Anniversary) Edition with cover reveal and excerpt (April 2018)
• TIME Magazine names Katniss Everdeen to the list of “The 100 Most influential People Who Never Lived” (September 2013)
• The Associated Press announces the publication of Year of the Jungle (November 29, 2012)
• Salon.com: The making of a blockbuster: The behind-the-scenes story of the readers and booksellers who launched the Hunger Games franchise (March 18, 2012)
• Parade Magazine cover story: Go Inside the 'Hunger Games' Phenomenon (March 17, 2012)
• NBC’s The Today Show : Fan Frenzy: Excitement Builds for ‘Hunger Games’ (March 16, 2012)
• USA Today : Fans are hungry for more 'Games': Books top best-seller list (March 15, 2012)
• People Magazine cover story : Behind the Scenes on The Hunger Games (March 14, 2012)
• The New York Times : Peer Pressure? How About, Like, Fighting to Death? (March 9, 2012)
• The Wall Street Journal : Gender Games, 'The Hunger Games' must clear tricky marketing hurdles (March 8, 2012)
• The Muppets spoof The Hunger Games (March 6, 2012)
• Entertainment Weekly cover story: "The Hunger Games— Game On!" (March 9, 2012)
• The Hunger Games trilogy represents three of the ten bestselling books in December 2011, according to USA Today (January 4, 2012)
• The Hunger Games  reaches #1 on USA Today’s bestseller list (December 29, 2011)
• The Hunger Games included in World Book Night 2012 (December 14, 2011)
• Three Movie Tie-in Book Covers Revealed in Entertainment Weekly (December 1, 2011)
• Entertainment Weekly cover story: "The Men of The Hunger Games: Your first look at Gale and Peeta—and how the actors are bringing them to life." (July 27, 2011)
• Entertainment Weekly cover story: "First Look at Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in The Hunger Games movie" (May 18, 2011)
• The Wrap announces Jennifer Lawrence Gets Lead Role in The Hunger Games (March 16, 2011)
• The Atlantic weighs in on the importance of the casting of Katniss: "Katniss Everdeen is more than just a teen idol of the moment. She is a heroine for the ages… the most important female character in recent pop culture history." (March 9, 2011)
• Entertainment Weekly Announces Release Date for The Hunger Games Movie (January 25, 2011)
• Entertainment Weekly feature story: “Interview with Hunger Games Movie Director Gary Ross” (January 6, 2011)
• Entertainment Weekly feature story: “The Hunger Games: Taking the book world (and Hollywood) by storm” (October 15, 2010)
• The Associated Press on the New York City launch event for Mockingjay (August 24, 2010)
• New York Times on the launch of Mockingjay (August 24, 2010)
• USA Today reviews Mockingjay (August 24, 2010)
• Los Angeles Times reviews Mockingjay (August 23, 2010)
• USA Today anticipates “more than the usual number” of sleepy teens upon midnight publication of Mockingjay (August 19, 2010)
• USA Today , Publishers Weekly , and Scholastic reveal the cover and title for Mockingjay (February 11, 2010). Mockingjay , the final book of The Hunger Games, will be published August 24, 2010.
• USA Today announces Catching Fire 's debut at #1 on the USA Today Bestselling Books list its first week on sale. Catching Fire simultaneously appeared at #1 on The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.
• Time Magazine reviews The Hunger Games and Catching Fire . (September 2009)
• Publishers Weekly chronicles excitement among booksellers nationwide for the September 1st publication of Catching Fire .
• On June 26, 2009, Scholastic announced the winner of the Hunger Games Writing Contest. For information about the winner, see coverage of the contest in Publishers Weekly .
• Publishers Weekly reports that "Catching Fire Catches Fire" in an article on growing advance buzz for the publication of Catching Fire (September 1, 2009)
• Publishers Weekly announces the new publication date for Catching Fire (March 12, 2009)
• Stephen King reviews The Hunger Games in Entertainment Weekly (September 2008)
• Publishers Weekly reports "A Dark Horse Breaks Out: The buzz is on for Suzanne Collins's YA series debut" in an article about the forthcoming publication of The Hunger Games (June 2008)
• Critical praise for The Hunger Games
• Critical praise for Catching Fire

About Suzanne Collins

Bestselling author SUZANNE COLLINS first made her mark in children’s literature with the New York Times bestselling Underland Chronicles fantasy series for middle grade readers. She continued to explore the effects of war and violence on those coming of age with The Hunger Games Trilogy.  The Hunger Games (2008) was an instant bestseller, appealing to both teen readers and adults. It was called “addictive” by Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly and “amazing” by Stephanie Meyer on her website. The book appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 260 consecutive weeks (more than five consecutive years), and there are more than 100 million copies of all three books in the trilogy, The Hunger Games , Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010), in print and digital formats worldwide. Foreign publishing rights for The Hunger Games Trilogy have been sold into 56 territories in 53 languages to date. In 2012 Lionsgate launched the first of four films based on the novels, starring Jennifer Lawrence. To date, the franchise has earned nearly $3 Billion at the worldwide box office.

Year of the Jungle , Suzanne Collins’s picture book based on the year her father was deployed in Viet Nam, with illustrations by James Proimos, was published in 2013 to great critical acclaim.

Suzanne Collins also 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!

In 2010 Suzanne Collins was named to the TIME 100 list as well as the Entertainment Weekly Entertainers of the Year list; in 2011 Fast Company named her to their 100 Most Creative People in Business; and in 2016 she was presented the 2016 Authors Guild Award for Distinguished Service to the Literary Community for exemplifying the unique power of young people’s literature to change lives and to create lifelong book lovers. It was the first time the Guild presented its annual award to a YA author. The Atlantic called Hunger Games heroine Katniss Everdeen, “the most important female character in recent pop culture history,” and TIME Magazine named Katniss to its list of “The 100 Most influential People Who Never Lived.”

• Download the book cover for The Hunger Games
• Download the book cover for Catching Fire
• Download the book cover for Mockingjay
• Download the book cover for The Hunger Games Illustrated Edition
• Download The Hunger Games Boxed Set
• Download the book cover for  The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
• Download the book cover for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Paperback
• Download the book cover for The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Movie Tie-In
• Download the cover for  The Year of the Jungle
• Download the cover for Gregor the Overlander
• Photo of Suzanne Collins  (photo credit: Todd Plitt)
• Download The Hunger Games Boxed Set 2020

The Hunger Games

By suzanne collins.

'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins captures the dangers of totalitarian regimes through the eyes of the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen.

Article written by Neesha Thunga K

B.A. in English Literature, and M.A. in English Language and Literature.

It has a strong female protagonist who acts as the catalyst for several events in the book. The main characters are well-drawn out and the world-building is excellent. The tone of the novel reflects its gruesome contents , making The Hunger Games one of the best Young Adult novels released in recent times.

Terrors of a Totalitarian Regime

The minute we start reading The Hunger Games , it becomes clear that we are no longer dealing with the world as we know it today. We enter the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem where the autocratic President Snow has taken control, and there is no freedom anymore – merely the illusion of it remains.

This is revealed to us at the beginning when we are introduced to the history of Panem by the Mayor of District 12 during the reaping . A great amount of world-building occurs here, as we are provided information regarding the 13 districts , their rebellion, their punishment, and subsequently, the birth of the Hunger Games.

Throughout The Hunger Games , we are shown the callous nature of those at The Capitol who care for nothing other than their luxury and comfort – and of course, the suffering of those at the districts . Watching the tributes fight amongst themselves to the death every single year is what they live for, and what provides flavor and excitement in their superficial and heartless lives. 

President Snow appears benevolent but is actually ruthless. He will stop at nothing to maintain control. Everything he does is aimed at expressing dominance, to remind the people in the districts that the Capitol always wins. Most people in the districts have either accepted their fate or have resigned themselves to a life of misery. Those in the wealthier districts have deluded themselves into thinking that they are the Capitol’s favorite, which gives cause for tension throughout the novel. 

All of this showcases a totalitarian regime, but one of the major drawbacks of the novel is the fact that it does not go into detail. It is written in a matter-of-fact and superficial manner which does not quite capture the gravity of the content. Nevertheless, it achieves the kind of world-building that is required for the readers to understand the plot, and sets the foundation for the sequels well.

The Spark Lit by Katniss Everdeen

The entire story is narrated by the 16-year-old protagonist, Katniss Everdeen . As such, the novel is in the first-person point of view – something which allows us to experience the horrors of the Hunger Games first-hand.

We are privy only to those things that are related to Katniss, and as a teenager who has had to take on the role of primary provider early in life, there is not much on her mind other than keeping her family alive.

As such, the novel is more about Katniss and her thoughts, feelings, and actions per se than it is about the Hunger Games themselves. We understand the Games from her unique perspective – one that is disgusted by the Capitol and laced with sarcasm and irony. 

However, this is not how others in the novel treat the Hunger Games. For instance, the Career tributes have made it their life’s mission to excel at the hideous Games concocted by the Capitol, while those at the Capitol itself revel in the mass killings that take place.

On the contrary, Katniss’s fury at the injustice of the Games grows steadily (and subconsciously) until it ends with her “trick” with the berries. Although Katniss’s only hope behind consuming the berries was to be left alive with Peeta, the very fact that she thought of killing herself is a mark of her awareness, as well as her subtle forms of rebellion.

Katniss undergoes a remarkable change in the short period it takes to complete the Hunger Games, and she transforms from someone who cares only about her family to someone who is deeply affected by the injustice of the Capitol. There is even a point when she thinks of the death of a tribute as “murder.” She reflects on the word the minute it crosses her mind, ultimately concluding that it is a fitting word to use in the situation.

Katniss has a fire within her that is longing to burst forth. Coincidentally, she becomes the “Girl on Fire” with the help of Cinna ’s creations but the references to fire do not stop there. Katniss seems to spark a fire that spreads throughout the nation of Panem with everything she does. The spark she ignites provides an unpleasant jolt to the people of the Capitol, while it acts as a beacon of hope to those in the districts. Soon, Katniss becomes the person who everyone in Panem admires and looks up to, whether she wants them to or not.

Supporting Characters

The plot of The Hunger Games is brilliantly set forth and moves at a breathtakingly quick speed. This is more than enough to sustain the reader’s interest till the end. However, the novel is a little lacking in terms of characters. No character other than Katniss is fully developed, other than through the thoughts and feelings that Katniss has about them.

You might think that her relationships are better explained but this is not the case either. We do not really know much about her relationships with her sister, Prim, who is the very reason for all of the events in the novel. We know that Katniss loves Prim and would sacrifice almost everything for her, including herself, but we do not fully understand why.

Similarly, the other characters in the novel are not provided space for their own development. This is the case for Peeta Mellark , Katniss’s co-tribute and love interest as well as President Snow, the main antagonist of the novel.

All of this could be attributed to the fact that The Hunger Games caters to a younger audience, i.e., young adults, but the novel is still missing some crucial character development.

The Final Pages of The Hunger Games

The concluding pages of the novel credit Suzanne Collins’ ability to hook the reader in. She introduces several twists in the novel, with the final one taking everyone by surprise. The reader is taken on a rollercoaster, where they are given hope (much like the characters themselves) that both Katniss and Peeta would survive, and subsequently given to despair as that hope is snatched away by the Gamemakers .

Ultimately, however, Katniss and Peeta end up surviving, and they come back home. The concluding pages also set the foundation for the sequel, which is based on the Capitol’s fury at Katniss’s rebellion. Lastly, we are left with the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale, which takes shape in the next novel, Catching Fire .

Thus, the last pages of the novel act as a spark, much like Katniss herself, for the trilogy of The Hunger Games as a whole.

Did they kill Cinna?

Cinna remains alive by the end of The Hunger Games book 1. However, due to his transgressions in Book 2, where he creates a deceptive Mockingjay outfit for Katniss, he is tortured and killed.

Is Cinna in love with Katniss?

No, Cinna is not in love with Katniss. As her stylist, it is Cinna’s job to make Katniss look appealing to the public. He sees Katniss naked many times, but he looks at her body only professionally (to assess the outfits she needs to wear) and never romantically.

Who is Haymitch to Katniss?

Haymitch is Katniss’s mentor in the 74th and 75th Hunger Games . He is an alcoholic who drowns his sorrows in drink, but comes to care for Katniss very deeply. He tries his best to keep Katniss alive both times she’s in the arena .

Did Katniss ever love Gale?

Katniss does love Gale, but only as a friend. Though Gale confesses that he loves her, Katniss never viewed him as a romantic partner. She is closer to him than anyone else because of their hunting and poaching days, until she forms a bond with Peeta.

The Hunger Games Review: A True Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

• Writing Style
• Lasting Effect on the Reader

The Hunger Games review

The Hunger Games is a highly memorable young adult dystopian fiction. It is one of a kind and deals with several important themes that are relevant even in our world. The plot and pace of the novel are praiseworthy. It is commendable in terms of world-building and leaves an impression on the reader in an unsettling and uncanny manner. However, character development is weak and superficial.

• Incredible plot and setting
• Relevant despite being unsettling
• Good world-building
• Provides an immersive experience through the use of a first-person point of view
• Characters other than the protagonist are not well-developed
• Lazy writing at times
• Falls prey to the clichéd love triangle

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Neesha, born to a family of avid readers, has devoted several years to teaching English and writing for various organizations, making an impact on the literary community.

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Add your guide, you are here:, the hunger games.

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.

I prop myself up on one elbow. There’s enough light in the bedroom to see them. My little sister, Prim, curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother’s body, their cheeks pressed together. In sleep, my mother looks younger, still worn but not so beaten-down. Prim’s face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named. My mother was very beautiful once, too. Or so they tell me.

Sitting at Prim’s knees, guarding her, is the world’s ugliest cat. Mashed-in nose, half of one ear missing, eyes the color of rotting squash. Prim named him Buttercup, insisting that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower. He hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I think he still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home. Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms, crawling with fleas. The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It turned out okay. My mother got rid of the vermin and he’s a born mouser. Even catches the occasional rat. Sometimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me.

Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.

I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots. Supple leather that has molded to my feet. I pull on trousers, a shirt, tuck my long dark braid up into a cap, and grab my forage bag. On the table, under a wooden bowl to protect it from hungry rats and cats alike, sits a perfect little goat cheese wrapped in basil leaves. Prim’s gift to me on reaping day. I put the cheese carefully in my pocket as I slip outside.

Our part of District 12, nicknamed the Seam, is usually crawling with coal miners heading out to the morning shift at this hour. Men and women with hunched shoulders, swollen knuckles, many who have long since stopped trying to scrub the coal dust out of their broken nails, the lines of their sunken faces. But today the black cinder streets are empty. Shutters on the squat gray houses are closed. The reaping isn’t until two. May as well sleep in. If you can.

Our house is almost at the edge of the Seam. I only have to pass a few gates to reach the scruffy field called the Meadow. Separating the Meadow from the woods, in fact enclosing all of District 12, is a high chain-link fence topped with barbed-wire loops. In theory, it’s supposed to be electrified twenty-four hours a day as a deterrent to the predators that live in the woods — packs of wild dogs, lone cougars, bears — that used to threaten our streets. But since we’re lucky to get two or three hours of electricity in the evenings, it’s usually safe to touch. Even so, I always take a moment to listen carefully for the hum that means the fence is live. Right now, it’s silent as a stone. Concealed by a clump of bushes, I flatten out on my belly and slide under a two-foot stretch that’s been loose for years. There are several other weak spots in the fence, but this one is so close to home I almost always enter the woods here.

As soon as I’m in the trees, I retrieve a bow and sheath of arrows from a hollow log. Electrified or not, the fence has been successful at keeping the flesh-eaters out of District 12. Inside the woods they roam freely, and there are added concerns like venomous snakes, rabid animals, and no real paths to follow. But there’s also food if you know how to find it. My father knew and he taught me some before he was blown to bits in a mine explosion. There was nothing even to bury. I was eleven then. Five years later, I still wake up screaming for him to run.

Even though trespassing in the woods is illegal and poaching carries the severest of penalties, more people would risk it if they had weapons. But most are not bold enough to venture out with just a knife. My bow is a rarity, crafted by my father along with a few others that I keep well hidden in the woods, carefully wrapped in waterproof covers. My father could have made good money selling them, but if the officials found out he would have been publicly executed for inciting a rebellion. Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt because they’re as hungry for fresh meat as anybody is. In fact, they’re among our best customers. But the idea that someone might be arming the Seam would never have been allowed.

In the fall, a few brave souls sneak into the woods to harvest apples. But always in sight of the Meadow. Always close enough to run back to the safety of District 12 if trouble arises. “District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety,” I mutter. Then I glance quickly over my shoulder. Even here, even in the middle of nowhere, you worry someone might overhear you.

When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol. Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more trouble. So I learned to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an indifferent mask so that no one could ever read my thoughts. Do my work quietly in school. Make only polite small talk in the public market. Discuss little more than trades in the Hob, which is the black market where I make most of my money. Even at home, where I am less pleasant, I avoid discussing tricky topics. Like the reaping, or food shortages, or the Hunger Games. Prim might begin to repeat my words and then where would we be?

In the woods waits the only person with whom I can be myself. Gale. I can feel the muscles in my face relaxing, my pace quickening as I climb the hills to our place, a rock ledge overlooking a valley. A thicket of berry bushes protects it from unwanted eyes. The sight of him waiting there brings on a smile. Gale says I never smile except in the woods.

“Hey, Catnip,” says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So he thought I’d said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official nickname for me. I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. I almost regretted it because he wasn’t bad company. But I got a decent price for his pelt.

“Look what I shot,” Gale holds up a loaf of bread with an arrow stuck in it, and I laugh. It’s real bakery bread, not the flat, dense loaves we make from our grain rations. I take it in my hands, pull out the arrow, and hold the puncture in the crust to my nose, inhaling the fragrance that makes my mouth flood with saliva. Fine bread like this is for special occasions.

“Mm, still warm,” I say. He must have been at the bakery at the crack of dawn to trade for it. “What did it cost you?”

“Just a squirrel. Think the old man was feeling sentimental this morning,” says Gale. “Even wished me luck.”

“Well, we all feel a little closer today, don’t we?” I say, not even bothering to roll my eyes. “Prim left us a cheese.” I pull it out.

His expression brightens at the treat. “Thank you, Prim. We’ll have a real feast.” Suddenly he falls into a Capitol accent as he mimics Effie Trinket, the maniacally upbeat woman who arrives once a year to read out the names at the reaping. “I almost forgot! Happy Hunger Games!” He plucks a few blackberries from the bushes around us. “And may the odds —” He tosses a berry in a high arc toward me.

I catch it in my mouth and break the delicate skin with my teeth. The sweet tartness explodes across my tongue. “— be  ever  in your favor!” I finish with equal verve. We have to joke about it because the alternative is to be scared out of your wits. Besides, the Capitol accent is so affected, almost anything sounds funny in it.

I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the bread. He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes. But we’re not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work the mines resemble one another this way.

That’s why my mother and Prim, with their light hair and blue eyes, always look out of place. They are. My mother’s parents were part of the small merchant class that caters to officials, Peacekeepers, and the occasional Seam customer. They ran an apothecary shop in the nicer part of District 12. Since almost no one can afford doctors, apothecaries are our healers. My father got to know my mother because on his hunts he would sometimes collect medicinal herbs and sell them to her shop to be brewed into remedies. She must have really loved him to leave her home for the Seam. I try to remember that when all I can see is the woman who sat by, blank and unreachable, while her children turned to skin and bones. I try to forgive her for my father’s sake. But to be honest, I’m not the forgiving type.

Gale spreads the bread slices with the soft goat cheese, carefully placing a basil leaf on each while I strip the bushes of their berries. We settle back in a nook in the rocks. From this place, we are invisible but have a clear view of the valley, which is teeming with summer life, greens to gather, roots to dig, fish iridescent in the sunlight. The day is glorious, with a blue sky and soft breeze. The food’s wonderful, with the cheese seeping into the warm bread and the berries bursting in our mouths. Everything would be perfect if this really was a holiday, if all the day off meant was roaming the mountains with Gale, hunting for tonight’s supper. But instead we have to be standing in the square at two o’clock waiting for the names to be called out.

“We could do it, you know,” Gale says quietly.

“What?” I ask.

“Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it,” says Gale.

I don’t know how to respond. The idea is so preposterous.

“If we didn’t have so many kids,” he adds quickly.

They’re not our kids, of course. But they might as well be. Gale’s two little brothers and a sister. Prim. And you may as well throw in our mothers, too, because how would they live without us? Who would fill those mouths that are always asking for more? With both of us hunting daily, there are still nights when game has to be swapped for lard or shoelaces or wool, still nights when we go to bed with our stomachs growling.

“I never want to have kids,” I say.

“I might. If I didn’t live here,” says Gale.

“But you do,” I say, irritated.

“Forget it,” he snaps back.

The conversation feels all wrong. Leave? How could I leave Prim, who is the only person in the world I’m certain I love? And Gale is devoted to his family. We can’t leave, so why bother talking about it? And even if we did . . . even if we did . . . where did this stuff about having kids come from? There’s never been anything romantic between Gale and me. When we met, I was a skinny twelve-year-old, and although he was only two years older, he already looked like a man. It took a long time for us to even become friends, to stop haggling over every trade and begin helping each other out.

Besides, if he wants kids, Gale won’t have any trouble finding a wife. He’s good-looking, he’s strong enough to handle the work in the mines, and he can hunt. You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in school that they want him. It makes me jealous but not for the reason people would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find.

“What do you want to do?” I ask. We can hunt, fish, or gather.

“Let’s fish at the lake. We can leave our poles and gather in the woods. Get something nice for tonight,” he says.

Tonight. After the reaping, everyone is supposed to celebrate. And a lot of people do, out of relief that their children have been spared for another year. But at least two families will pull their shutters, lock their doors, and try to figure out how they will survive the painful weeks to come.

We make out well. The predators ignore us on a day when easier, tastier prey abounds. By late morning, we have a dozen fish, a bag of greens and, best of all, a gallon of strawberries. I found the patch a few years ago, but Gale had the idea to string mesh nets around it to keep out the animals.

On the way home, we swing by the Hob, the black market that operates in an abandoned warehouse that once held coal. When they came up with a more efficient system that transported the coal directly from the mines to the trains, the Hob gradually took over the space. Most businesses are closed by this time on reaping day, but the black market’s still fairly busy. We easily trade six of the fish for good bread, the other two for salt. Greasy Sae, the bony old woman who sells bowls of hot soup from a large kettle, takes half the greens off our hands in exchange for a couple of chunks of paraffin. We might do a tad better elsewhere, but we make an effort to keep on good terms with Greasy Sae. She’s the only one who can consistently be counted on to buy wild dog. We don’t hunt them on purpose, but if you’re attacked and you take out a dog or two, well, meat is meat. “Once it’s in the soup, I’ll call it beef,” Greasy Sae says with a wink. No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog, but the Peacekeepers who come to the Hob can afford to be a little choosier.

When we finish our business at the market, we go to the back door of the mayor’s house to sell half the strawberries, knowing he has a particular fondness for them and can afford our price. The mayor’s daughter, Madge, opens the door. She’s in my year at school. Being the mayor’s daughter, you’d expect her to be a snob, but she’s all right. She just keeps to herself. Like me. Since neither of us really has a group of friends, we seem to end up together a lot at school. Eating lunch, sitting next to each other at assemblies, partnering for sports activities. We rarely talk, which suits us both just fine.

Today her drab school outfit has been replaced by an expensive white dress, and her blonde hair is done up with a pink ribbon. Reaping clothes.

“Pretty dress,” says Gale.

Madge shoots him a look, trying to see if it’s a genuine compliment or if he’s just being ironic. It  is  a pretty dress, but she would never be wearing it ordinarily. She presses her lips together and then smiles. “Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don’t I?”

Now it’s Gale’s turn to be confused. Does she mean it? Or is she messing with him? I’m guessing the second.

“You won’t be going to the Capitol,” says Gale coolly. His eyes land on a small, circular pin that adorns her dress. Real gold. Beautifully crafted. It could keep a family in bread for months. “What can you have? Five entries? I had six when I was just twelve years old.”

“That’s not her fault,” I say.

“No, it’s no one’s fault. Just the way it is,” says Gale.

Madge’s face has become closed off. She puts the money for the berries in my hand. “Good luck, Katniss.”

“You, too,” I say, and the door closes.

We walk toward the Seam in silence. I don’t like that Gale took a dig at Madge, but he’s right, of course. The reaping system is unfair, with the poor getting the worst of it. You become eligible for the reaping the day you turn twelve. That year, your name is entered once. At thirteen, twice. And so on and so on until you reach the age of eighteen, the final year of eligibility, when your name goes into the pool seven times. That’s true for every citizen in all twelve districts in the entire country of Panem. 

But here’s the catch. Say you are poor and starving as we were. You can opt to add your name more times in exchange for tesserae. Each tessera is worth a meager year’s supply of grain and oil for one person. You may do this for each of your family members as well. So, at the age of twelve, I had my name entered four times. Once, because I had to, and three times for tesserae for grain and oil for myself, Prim, and my mother. In fact, every year I have needed to do this. And the entries are cumulative. So now, at the age of sixteen, my name will be in the reaping twenty times. Gale, who is eighteen and has been either helping or single-handedly feeding a family of five for seven years, will have his name in forty-two times.

You can see why someone like Madge, who has never been at risk of needing a tessera, can set him off. The chance of her name being drawn is very slim compared to those of us who live in the Seam. Not impossible, but slim. And even though the rules were set up by the Capitol, not the districts, certainly not Madge’s family, it’s hard not to resent those who don’t have to sign up for tesserae.

Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected. On other days, deep in the woods, I’ve listened to him rant about how the tesserae are just another tool to cause misery in our district. A way to plant hatred between the starving workers of the Seam and those who can generally count on supper and thereby ensure we will never trust one another. “It’s to the Capitol’s advantage to have us divided among ourselves,” he might say if there were no ears to hear but mine. If it wasn’t reaping day. If a girl with a gold pin and no tesserae had not made what I’m sure she thought was a harmless comment.

As we walk, I glance over at Gale’s face, still smoldering underneath his stony expression. His rages seem pointless to me, although I never say so. It’s not that I don’t agree with him. I do. But what good is yelling about the Capitol in the middle of the woods? It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t make things fair. It doesn’t fill our stomachs. In fact, it scares off the nearby game. I let him yell though. Better he does it in the woods than in the district.

Gale and I divide our spoils, leaving two fish, a couple of loaves of good bread, greens, a quart of strawberries, salt, paraffin, and a bit of money for each.

“See you in the square,” I say.

“Wear something pretty,” he says flatly.

At home, I find my mother and sister are ready to go. My mother wears a fine dress from her apothecary days. Prim is in my first reaping outfit, a skirt and ruffled blouse. It’s a bit big on her, but my mother has made it stay with pins. Even so, she’s having trouble keeping the blouse tucked in at the back.

A tub of warm water waits for me. I scrub off the dirt and sweat from the woods and even wash my hair. To my surprise, my mother has laid out one of her own lovely dresses for me. A soft blue thing with matching shoes.

“Are you sure?” I ask. I’m trying to get past rejecting offers of help from her. For a while, I was so angry, I wouldn’t allow her to do anything for me. And this is something special. Her clothes from her past are very precious to her.

“Of course. Let’s put your hair up, too,” she says. I let her towel-dry it and braid it up on my head. I can hardly recognize myself in the cracked mirror that leans against the wall.

“You look beautiful,” says Prim in a hushed voice.

“And nothing like myself,” I say. I hug her, because I know these next few hours will be terrible for her. Her first reaping. She’s about as safe as you can get, since she’s only entered once. I wouldn’t let her take out any tesserae. But she’s worried about me. That the unthinkable might happen.

I protect Prim in every way I can, but I’m powerless against the reaping. The anguish I always feel when she’s in pain wells up in my chest and threatens to register on my face. I notice her blouse has pulled out of her skirt in the back again and force myself to stay calm. “Tuck your tail in, little duck,” I say, smoothing the blouse back in place.

Prim giggles and gives me a small “Quack.”

“Quack yourself,” I say with a light laugh. The kind only Prim can draw out of me. “Come on, let’s eat,” I say and plant a quick kiss on the top of her head.

The fish and greens are already cooking in a stew, but that will be for supper. We decide to save the strawberries and bakery bread for this evening’s meal, to make it special we say. Instead we drink milk from Prim’s goat, Lady, and eat the rough bread made from the tessera grain, although no one has much appetite anyway.

At one o’clock, we head for the square. Attendance is mandatory unless you are on death’s door. This evening, officials will come around and check to see if this is the case. If not, you’ll be imprisoned.

It’s too bad, really, that they hold the reaping in the square — one of the few places in District 12 that can be pleasant. The square’s surrounded by shops, and on public market days, especially if there’s good weather, it has a holiday feel to it. But today, despite the bright banners hanging on the buildings, there’s an air of grimness. The camera crews, perched like buzzards on rooftops, only add to the effect.

People file in silently and sign in. The reaping is a good opportunity for the Capitol to keep tabs on the population as well. Twelve- through eighteen-year-olds are herded into roped areas marked off by ages, the oldest in the front, the young ones, like Prim, toward the back. Family members line up around the perimeter, holding tightly to one another’s hands. But there are others, too, who have no one they love at stake, or who no longer care, who slip among the crowd, taking bets on the two kids whose names will be drawn. Odds are given on their ages, whether they’re Seam or merchant, if they will break down and weep. Most refuse dealing with the racketeers but carefully, carefully. These same people tend to be informers, and who hasn’t broken the law? I could be shot on a daily basis for hunting, but the appetites of those in charge protect me. Not everyone can claim the same.

Anyway, Gale and I agree that if we have to choose between dying of hunger and a bullet in the head, the bullet would be much quicker.

The space gets tighter, more claustrophobic as people arrive. The square’s quite large, but not enough to hold District 12’s population of about eight thousand. Latecomers are directed to the adjacent streets, where they can watch the event on screens as it’s televised live by the state.

I find myself standing in a clump of sixteens from the Seam. We all exchange terse nods then focus our attention on the temporary stage that is set up before the Justice Building. It holds three chairs, a podium, and two large glass balls, one for the boys and one for the girls. I stare at the paper slips in the girls’ ball. Twenty of them have Katniss Everdeen written on them in careful handwriting.

Two of the three chairs fill with Madge’s father, Mayor Undersee, who’s a tall, balding man, and Effie Trinket, District 12’s escort, fresh from the Capitol with her scary white grin, pinkish hair, and spring green suit. They murmur to each other and then look with concern at the empty seat.

Just as the town clock strikes two, the mayor steps up to the podium and begins to read. It’s the same story every year. He tells of the history of Panem, the country that rose up out of the ashes of a place that was once called North America. He lists the disasters, the droughts, the storms, the fires, the encroaching seas that swallowed up so much of the land, the brutal war for what little sustenance remained. The result was Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave us the new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games.

The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.

Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch — this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen.”

To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. All year, the Capitol will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil and even delicacies like sugar while the rest of us battle starvation.

“It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks,” intones the mayor.

Then he reads the list of past District 12 victors. In seventy-four years, we have had exactly two. Only one is still alive. Haymitch Abernathy, a paunchy, middle-aged man, who at this moment appears hollering something unintelligible, staggers onto the stage, and falls into the third chair. He’s drunk. Very. The crowd responds with its token applause, but he’s confused and tries to give Effie Trinket a big hug, which she barely manages to fend off.

The mayor looks distressed. Since all of this is being televised, right now District 12 is the laughingstock of Panem, and he knows it. He quickly tries to pull the attention back to the reaping by introducing Effie Trinket.

Bright and bubbly as ever, Effie Trinket trots to the podium and gives her signature, “Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever  in your favor!” Her pink hair must be a wig because her curls have shifted slightly offcenter since her encounter with Haymitch. She goes on a bit about what an honor it is to be here, although everyone knows she’s just aching to get bumped up to a better district where they have proper victors, not drunks who molest you in front of the entire nation.

Through the crowd, I spot Gale looking back at me with a ghost of a smile. As reapings go, this one at least has a slight entertainment factor. But suddenly I am thinking of Gale and his forty-two names in that big glass ball and how the odds are not in his favor. Not compared to a lot of the boys. And maybe he’s thinking the same thing about me because his face darkens and he turns away. “But there are still thousands of slips,” I wish I could whisper to him.

It’s time for the drawing. Effie Trinket says as she always does, “Ladies first!” and crosses to the glass ball with the girls’ names. She reaches in, digs her hand deep into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. The crowd draws in a collective breath and then you can hear a pin drop, and I’m feeling nauseous and so desperately hoping that it’s not me, that it’s not me, that it’s not me.

Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it’s not me. 

Excerpted from THE HUNGER GAMES © Copyright 2011 by Suzanne Collins. Reprinted with permission by Scholastic Press. All rights reserved.

The Hunger Games by by Suzanne Collins

• Genres: Fantasy , Science Fiction , Young Adult 13+
• paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
• ISBN-10: 1338321919
• ISBN-13: 9781338321913
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"The Hunger Games" Book Review

Favorite Quote: "You create your own luck." -Hope Solo's Grandma

“The Hunger Games” Book Review “The Hunger Games” is a the first book in a fantastic series of three books written by Suzanne Collins. It takes you into the life of a scared but quick-thinking, brave girl named Katniss Everdeen who learns how to survive on her own from a very young age when her father died in a mining accident. From that day on, she took care of her little family (mother and little sister, Prim) as well as herself by hunting in the woods of District 12 everyday with her guy friend Gale (who might have a thing for her but no one really knows). District 12 was one of the twelve districts that made up the country of Panem. Panem was once the continent of North America. When an epidemic swept through the continent of North America, Panem was formed and, the people who lived under the rules set by the capitol did not like it. They rebelled against the capitol and lost. Now, every year, children's names, ages 12 through 18, are put into a bowl and drawn out during a ceremony known as “The Reaping.” This is a dreaded time and no one wants to be a part of it because they know that if their names are drawn, it is almost like a death sentence. When a name is called, you are then taken and thrown into what is known as “The Hunger Games.” Our narrator, main character, and hero also known as Katniss Everdeen, offered herself as a tribute in place of her younger sister Prim in an effort to save her life. When her and Peeta Mellark (the boy tribute from district 12) were taken off to the capitol, they went through some pretty intense training and in the end, well, you'll have to read the book to find out what happened but it was sort of an unexpected ending. This book was so good because it kept you on your toes the whole time. I would rate it a solid 9.5. I gave it that high of a rating because, the unexpected seemed to happen a lot and things popped up all the time out of no where. The book also kept a good pace and there weren't to many dull moments; there was just enough detail that you could picture what was going on in your head while the story kept moving. The only thing that I did not like about this book was the fact that it seemed almost too futuristic. Yes, it is true that the story takes place millions of years from our present day but, it seemed almost to realistic. Crazy is a good word that describes what some of the people acted like that lived in the capitol. In all though, I really did think that this was a very good book and I would suggest it to anyone who was considering reading it.

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Schools debate educational value of ‘The Hunger Games’

Administrators at Wallingford's Hamilton International Middle School canceled a sixth-grade class field trip to see the movie because of parent concerns about violence. Other Puget Sound-area schools are also debating how to handle the latest cultural phenomenon.

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It’s a best-selling book series, billed as a potential heir to the “Twilight” throne of young-adult powerhouses, and its upcoming movie release is attracting worldwide attention.

But is “The Hunger Games” an appropriate educational tool for kids?

That’s the question facing families and educators across the United States ahead of the Friday release of the trilogy’s first film, which chronicles a government-mandated, reality-TV-style competition that forces two dozen children to kill each other for the entertainment of a bloodthirsty society.

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Around here, the debate is playing out at a handful of middle schools, where administrators are hoping to tap into the movie’s popularity for educational gain while parents are worried the kids are too young to comprehend its themes.

At Wallingford’s Hamilton International Middle, parent complaints led school leaders to quash a scheduled sixth-grade-class field trip to see the film. Principal Christopher Carter initially defended the outing, arguing the movie complemented content areas the kids were studying, but on Saturday he announced the cancellation.

“We have received concern from families and it has become a distraction in our school community,” Carter wrote in a letter to parents.

Meanwhile, students at other places — including the small, private Seattle Girls’ School — are planning to see the film in groups and then participate in class discussions about issues it brings up, especially related to violence, youth empowerment and government abuse.

The film is rated PG-13, a designation that comes with the warning that “some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.”

Although the extent of the gore shown on screen is unclear — pundits have criticized producers for not showing any of the “games” in trailers — the book includes scenes in which teenagers kill other teenagers with arrows, knives and rocks.

The writers believe those scenes are important tools that propel thematic questions about identity, sacrifice, survival and, ironically enough, the decivilizing effect of violence.

Jeanne Brockmyer, a psychologist and professor at the University of Toledo, said the educational benefit of controversial books and movies depends on how they are used in the classroom. Research indicates that a discussion of the consequences of violence is the most effective avenue, she said.

In the case of “The Hunger Games” here in the Puget Sound area, schools and parents have been debating the books since the first one came out in 2008.

While the series is popular across the country — it currently occupies the top spot on The New York Times list of best-selling children’s series — it has an especially strong following in this area; Seattle ranked No. 4 on a recently released list of the top “Hunger Games” book-purchasing cities on a per-capita basis.

Kelly Hambleton, a teacher at Seattle’s Career Link High School, said she teaches the book to her sophomore English class. And Jessica Burns of the Soundview School, a private K-8 in Lynnwood, said the method of selecting participants in the games is used to illustrate statistics lessons. Both said using the book helps engage students who wouldn’t otherwise be interested in the material.

But Ryan Gollhofer, the father of a Stanwood Elementary fifth-grader reading the book in class, said he’s not sure it’s appropriate.

At the Seattle Girls’ School, which Head of School Rafael del Castillo says has been overrun by “Hunger Games mania,” administrators are conscious of concerns. But in a world of increasing violence in mainstream pop culture, they decided to support an eighth-grade trip to see the movie because of the possibility for a teaching moment.

“I was talking to one dad the other day and he said, ‘You know what, the premise, the plot, it’s horrible, it’s very dark, it’s disturbing,’ ” Castillo said. “But I think a very healthy approach nowadays is to not shield the girls from the media but to talk about it because clearly there’s something in there that speaks to them.”

Brian M. Rosenthal: 206-464-3195 or [email protected] . On Twitter @brianmrosenthal.

Hearing delayed for author of children’s book on grief who is charged in husband’s death

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A Utah judge on Wednesday postponed a hearing to determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed to trial in the case of a woman charged with fatally poisoning her husband before she published a children’s book about coping with grief.

Judge Richard Mrazik delayed the hearing until June 18-20 after prosecutors said they would need three days to present their evidence against Kouri Richins, whose lawyer says she is innocent.

Richins, 33, is charged with aggravated murder and other counts in her husband’s March 2022 fentanyl overdose death at their home in the mountain town of Park City. Prosecutors allege that she slipped five times’ the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail that her 39-year-old husband, Eric Richins, drank.

She previously tried to kill him with a spiked sandwich on Valentine’s Day, prosecutors allege.

Kouri Richins was having an affair at the time of her husband’s death and wanted to leave him but was worried that she might lose custody of their children and face financial difficulties in a divorce, prosecutors allege in court documents. They say she killed him for financial reasons and because she saw a future with her lover.

In the months leading up to her arrest last May, the mother of three self-published a children’s book, “Are You with Me?,” about a father with angel wings watching over his young son after dying. The book could play a key role for prosecutors in framing Eric Richins’ death as a calculated killing with an elaborate cover-up attempt.

Among the witnesses who could be called during the June hearing are relatives of the defendant and her late husband, a housekeeper who claims to have sold Kouri Richins the drugs, and friends of Eric Richins who have recounted phone conversations from the day prosecutors say he was first poisoned by his wife of nine years.

Defense attorney Skye Lazaro has argued that the evidence against her client is dubious and circumstantial. She suggested the housekeeper had motivation to lie as she sought leniency in the face of drug charges, and that Eric Richins’ sisters had a clear bias against her client amid a battle over his estate and a related assault case.

Kouri Richins was found guilty of misdemeanor charges Monday after she was accused of assaulting one of her husband’s sisters shortly after his death.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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