The Hunger Games is a series of young adult fiction novels by author Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games is the first book in the trilogy and was published on September 14, 2008. The second book in the trilogy is Catching Fire, which was published on September 1, 2009. There is no information at this time regarding the third and final book in the series.

Lionsgate has acquired the rights to make a Hunger Games movie. A release date has not yet been announced.

Katniss Everdeen is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and 12-year-old sister, Prim, in the poverty-stricken District 12 known as the Seam. They live in a nation called Panem that consists of 12 districts and is located in what used to be known as North America. Katniss keeps her family from starving by hunting in the forbidden woods near her home along with her best friend, a boy named Gale Hawthorne. Katniss’s father taught her survival skills and how to use weapons at a young age before he was killed in a mine explosion five years earlier. The forbidden meadow is the only place where Katniss and Gale can speak openly and be themselves.

There were once 13 districts in Panem. But many years ago the districts tried to rebel against the Capitol and lost. As a result District 13 was obliterated and the other 12 districts were defeated into submission. As punishment for the uprising, each year the 12 districts must each choose one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18, called tributes, to compete in a televised fight to the death called the Hunger Games. The 24 tributes are then dropped off in a vast outdoor arena that contains various terrains including a forest, a desert, and a frozen wasteland. Then over a period of weeks, the competitors must survive against the elements and fight each other to the death – and the last tribute standing wins.

When District 12 draws its first name from the thousands of entries, it is Prim who is chosen. However, Katniss volunteers to take her younger sister’s place in the Games. The next name chosen is that of 16-year-old Peeta Mellark, a boy that Katniss knows from school. Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol to be groomed, prepared and put on public display. With cameras following their every move, Peeta reveals on-air that he has always been in love with Katniss. Katniss assumes that Peeta is playing to the audience in an effort to gain sympathy from audience members who are permitted to send gifts to the tributes during the Games. So Katniss plays along pretending to also be in love with Peeta.

When the Games begin, Peeta and Katniss are separated. When Katniss finally finds Peeta, he appears to be working cooperatively with other district tributes. Katniss later finds out that this was just a ploy for Peeta to keep Katniss safe. Later Katniss and Peeta team up and end up being the last two survivors of the game. But since the rules state that there can be only one winner, they both threaten to commit suicide. This forces the Capitol to declare them both as winners.

Katniss and Peeta return home to celebrations and parades, but both knowing that they have upset the Capitol. Katniss and Peeta are unsure what the Capitol will do to them or their families. Katniss is also unsure about her feelings toward Peeta. Was it just an act? And what about her feelings towards her long-time friend, Gale?