The Hunger Games [Paperback]

The 74th Annual Hunger Games are soon to begin. The Hunger Games are a fight to the death. In the new country of Panem, in the ruins of North America, each year as punishment for a rebellion and as a control mechanism, the Capitol forces each of the 12 provinces to draw names of a male and female tribute. The tributes are drawn from all people between the ages of 12 and 18. They receive training, are assessed by the game masters and then the betting begins. The games will be televised and are required viewing for the whole nation.

The draws are not exactly even though. You can choose to enter your name extra times, for yourself and for family members to receive a terse, a grain and oil supplement from the government. Thus enters our heroine Katniss Everdeen. She is entered this year 20 times as she is 16 and taken the terse every year, for herself, her sister and her mother. Her close friend Gale has his name in 42 times, but this is the last year he is eligible. Then Katniss has the worst fear hit - her younger sister Prim (short for Primrose) is drawn with her 1st and only ballot. Katniss then does the unthinkable; she volunteers to take Prim's place.

Katniss Everdeen knows that she has at least some chance of survival in the games. She has been secretly hunting in the woods and feeding her family since her father died years earlier. She hunts and gathers what she can with her friend and hunting partner Gale, in the woods beyond the fenced border of District 12. Yet even so, most believe she has just given up her life for her sisters.

Katniss and Peeta Mellark are the tributes from District 12 for the 74th annual hunger games. As they travel to the capitol they have two mentors - Haymitch Abernathy the only surviving Hunger Games winner from the district and Effie Trinket the Capitol's representative in the district. They will each in their own way try to help them to survive both the Capitol, to win favor with the citizens who can sponsor them in the games, and then the games themselves.

This book is very well written, the scenes sharp and crisp, the world believable and detailed. The characters become real as you read. You reach the end and are left hungry for more, which is what you will get as this is book one in a trilogy. The only drawback in my opinion is the lack of a map. I keep hoping for a map of Panem, with the 12 districts, the mysterious destroyed 13th district and the wilderness area's between them. Maybe it is just a guy thing, but I wanted a map. In this book Twenty-four are forced to enter the game zone but only the winner survives. You get a sample online. You can read chapter 1 online but it will only whet your appetite for more. There is also a video trailer for the book you can find online. This is a great Sci-fi book and would make an excellent movie.

(First Published in Imprint 2008-10-31.)

For a full day this book sucked me deep into it's incredible story... time passed and I didn't notice. I couldn't stop reading until I was done. Then on the last page I read, 'End of Book One' and my mouth fell open, my stomach dropped. I didn't get to know the end of the story. There's so much more to come... and another book to be released in Sept. I have another day off tomorrow and I'd really rather just have the next book now and spend another day in bed entranced by the next part of this amazing story.

I'm a teacher and I also work in a childrens book store. I read a review about this book and was intrigued. The description reminded me of a Japanese horror movie called "Battle Royale" which follows a similar storyline. That movie was great, but utterly disturbing and full of gore. So, I really wanted to read this book intended for youth, wondering how the author could have a similar story but not have it turn out as disturbing for the young readers. She succeeded. I'm still not even sure how, but she did it! Incredible.

I will be recommending this to friends my age, other book lovers, the book buyers at my store, teachers and youth (with a warning about the material as it still is about an upseting game/war). I can't wait to get my hands on the next book!

Very happy with this series of 3 audio books. I recommend it to anyone who like Suzanne Collins. I love it.