The Hunger Games by Susan Collins

Ok, I am re-doing my Hunger Games post.  I had forgotten how utterly amazing they were.  I have been on Christmas break, as I am sure most of you are as well.  In all of my spare time, I've been catching up on my reading as best as I can.  I have finally reread The Hunger Games and can tell you they are so worth it.  You follow Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl and head of her family, as she competes in the 74th annual Hunger Games.  She lives a life of poverty in District 12, one of the 13 districts set up by The Capitol, the all powerful government that rules what is left of North America sometime in the future.  Her dad died when she was just a girl and her mom became nonexistent.  Katniss had to fend for herself and her mother and younger sister Prim by hunting illegally with her best friend Gale in the woods.  Every year The Capitol hosts The Hunger Games to show the people they are still in control.  The Capitol hosts a ceremony in every district called the reaping to choose two tributes from districts 1-12 to compete in the games.  District 13 is no longer existing because they were destroyed years ago.  The 24 tributes are then put in to a giant arena to fight to the death for not only their lives but eternal glory and contentment.  On the day of the reaping, Prim, Katniss' younger sister is chosen out of thousands of names to compete in the games.  Frantically Katniss volunteers to go for her.  Peeta Mellark, the son of the town baker is also chosen to compete and together they make their way into the games.  They play the angle of being madly in love to make the people love them and help them out if the need be.  As the games progress, tributes are killed and Katniss does her best not to die when she realizes that Peeta has been in love with her and helping her the entire time.  She finds him nearly dead and nurses him back to help while all the districts watch on their televisions.  It ends up being the two of them left and they are supposed to kill each other.  In an act of defiance and and refusal to kill each other they threaten to eat poisoned berries to outsmart the Capitol.  They are both declared winners and are whisked out of the arena.  As they return home, Peeta is devoted to Katniss, but her feelings are conflicted over him and Gale.  This book is perfect for boys and girls because boys will love the fighting and adventure, and the girls will wrestle with wether to pick Peeta or Gale.  This is a must read for everyone.