The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press, NY 2008

The seas have risen and North America is divided into 12 Districts ruled by the all-powerful Capitol. The poor Districts provide goods to the wealthy Capitol and once a year, as a reminder of the failed uprising of now-extinct District 13, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games. Two teens, a boy and a girl, from each district are chosen for the nationally televised reality show in which the contestants, or Tributes, fight to the death. The last Tribute left standing receives a lifetime supply of food and shelter for themselves and their families. District 12's Tribute, Katniss Everdeen is a born survivor. The sole provider for her family, she cannot lose the Games. Peeta Mellark, her fellow Tribute from District 13, throws a kink into her plans. 

The first in a trilogy, this book is simply fantastic. Suzanne Collins' imagined future is, in a word, bleak. I was rooting for Katniss from the start, but the real question is: Team Peeta or Team Gale? (Team Peeta!!)

Bottom Line:

Read it - not because the movie is coming out in March 2012- but because the story is a truly exciting, nerve-racking, inspiring, sad, imaginative ride.