Hungry For More

Meet Katniss Everdeen. She lives with her mother and sister in a place called the Seam, one of twelve Districts that are controlled by the compulsive Capitol. The city is set in North America, far into the future when the oceans have swallowed up most of the land. The Seam is a coal-mining District, leading me to think that District 12 (Seam) is in what would have been the West Virginia area.

Katniss's father was a coal miner, and was killed in an explosion in the mines. This left her to take care of her family; her mother and her sister, Prim. Even though it is illegal, she and her friend Gale hunt and gather outside the boundary chain link fence for good food. They sell some of their catches to the officials in District 12, so they agree not to turn them in for hunting.

Every year there is a celebration called the Hunger Games. Two competitors - one boy and one girl - are picked to participate in the Games. Doesn't seem so bad, huh? What if you were picked? Seems fun? What if it was for your survival? What if, to win and get to see your family again, you had to kill every one of the other twenty-three contestants? Not so easy now, is it?

Well, competition time comes and all of the eligible kids - ages twelve to eighteen - are corralled into holding gates. The mayor of the Seam and its representative - Effie Trinket - take the stage. Effie pulls a girl's name out of the large bowl and - well, you really thought I'd give it away?

If you're in for a little romance, a lot of action and adventure, and a great book, you really should pick up The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I'll admit, I was worried that I wouldn't like it when my English Lit. teacher handed it to me. But once I started reading, I couldn't put it down!