The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

North America is no longer the thriving nation it once was. Now, there are twelve districts that surround the Capitol. Each district has one city and normally one trade.What the Capitol demands, goes. No questions asked. And the Capitol demands blood.

 District Twelve, where Katniss Everdeen lives,  has the luck of being the coal miners. Katniss, or Kat, hates living there.Why does she hate living there? Her father died during a mining incident. So now, she lives with her mother and little sister.  She also hates living there because everything has a thin covering of black dust. Nothing is ever clean. She doesn't feel at home in the run-down building she calls a house. She feels more comfortable out in the woods past the perimeter fence. In the woods where her father taught her to hunt. In the woods, where most townfolk believe there are evil beasts and monsters, she hunts to feed her family. In the woods, she's free.


Each year the Capitol requires two adolescents, from the ages of 12 to 18 , to be selected at random to participate in what is known as the Hunger Games. In these games, the competitors must fight each other to the death. The winner recieves glory for their district and, more importantly, they win food. The losers get nothing. Kat is thrown into this all-important battle for food and life. With only her hunting skills to help her, she struggles to outlast 23 other competitors; including the other one from her district.


This compelling and fast paced novel will keep you guessing and wanting more. I've read through Hunger Games twice now. I loved it the first time and I was enthralled with it the second time. It will definitely be one of those books that you don't want to put down. Collins does an amazing job with crafting the main female characters, but some of her male characters don't get the same treatment. You don't get a good feel Kat's best friend Gale, but she makes Peeta, the guy that goes to the games with Kat, a little too transparent.


At times, the book can be a little frustrating. It drags on some of the parts that don't really seem necessary, but the action scenes tend to pick up the pace. And, there are lots of action scenes.


This book will capture your heart, run it through the wringer, and leave you wanting to come back.