The HUNGER GAMES

Book 1 in the trilogy

by SUZANNE COLLINS

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New softcover book, 458 pages, published 2011. Suitable for children aged 12 and older

Winning will make you famous, losing means certain death

The Hunger Games takes place in an unidentified future time period after the destruction of North America, in a nation known as Panem. Panem consists of a rich Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts. As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol, every year one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are forced to participate in The Hunger Games, a televised event where the participants, or 'tributes', must fight to the death in a large outdoor arena until only one remains. The story follows fatherless 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the Games in place of her younger sister, Prim.

Book 1: The Hunger Games

Katniss Everdeen is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called The Hunger Games. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in the live event. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When sixteen-year-old Katniss steps forward to take her younger sister Prim's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature..

All 3 books in the Hunger Games trilogy are available as a set - click here for more information

About the author

Suzanne Collins is an American television writer and author. Suzanne's career began in 1991 as a writer for children's television shows. She worked on several television shows for Nickelodeon, including Clarissa Explains It All, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Little Bear, and Oswald. She was also the head writer for Scholastic Entertainment's Clifford's Puppy Days. Suzanne was inspired to write children's books after meeting children's author James Proimos. Her inspiration for Gregor the Overlander, the first book of The New York Times best selling series The Underland Chronicles, came from Alice in Wonderland, when she was thinking about how one was more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole, and would find something other than a tea party. Between 2003 and 2007 she wrote the five books of the Underland Chronicles: Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw. During that time, she also wrote a rhyming picture book illustrated by Mike Lester entitled When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005).

In September 2008 Scholastic Press released the The Hunger Games, the first book of a new trilogy by Collins. The Hunger Games was partly inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Another inspiration was her father's career in the Air Force, which allowed her to better understand poverty, starvation, and the effects of war. This was followed by the novel's sequel, Catching Fire, in September 2009. The third book of the trilogy, Mockingjay, was published in August, 2010. In just 14 months, 1.5 million copies of the first two Hunger Games books have been printed in North America alone. The Hunger Games has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for more than 60 weeks in a row. Collins was named one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2010. Suzanne lives in Connecticut with her husband, their two children, and 2 adopted feral kittens.

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The Hunger Games Book 1 by Suzanne Collins