The Hunger Games
Katniss is a young girl from the Seam a part of district 12 that is usually home to coal miners. Like many she does not have much even less since an explosion in the coal mine took her father, but
Katniss is a survivor, every morning she sneaks under the gate into the woods outside the city to hunt with her friend Gale. Before he died Katniss' father had left her with a few bows that he knew how to create and the knowledge of how to make arrows, Katniss is a damn good shot and an extremely good hunter, Gale is no slouch either but what he does not have in aim he makes up for with his wizardry with traps and snares. The two make a formidable pair and each day at the Hob(the local black market) they trade their poached wares to the various customers who want more than just the measly amount of grain and oil the pittance the Capitol pays them for all the sweat and tears of those who work in the coal mines. To make matters worse each have multiple tessera to increase their odds of being selected in the hunger games just for an extra allotment of grain and oil to help keep their families going. The rules of the games are simple you are given one slip each year, so 1 slip at 12, 2 at 13 and so on until your 18th birthday when you will have 7 slips that bare your name for the drawing, the tessera allows you to add one more allotment of grain for yourself and one for each member of your family. Katniss is 16 and now has 20 as she has taken tessara for herself, her mother and her younger sister Prim each year, Gale at 18 has 42 he has been keeping his family of 5 afloat ever since the explosion that took he and Katniss's fathers life.
The districts are forced to treat "Reaping day" as a holiday, celebrating the fact that the Capitol is being so "benevolent" as to allow their children to die for their sport and entertainment, most enjoying the fact that their families are intact for one more year while the lucky ones sit in silence as one of their own is sent to certain death. This years Reaping day is especially tense for Katniss as her younger sister Prim has just turned 12 and has one entry into the games, she has made Prim promise NEVER to sign up for tessera but even so her name is still in the bin and can be drawn. After dispensing of their last few wares both go home to dress up for the ceremony, waiting for the executioners hand to fall and hopefully leave them unscathed.
Upon reaching the town square boys and girls are separated first by gender and then by age group. The one Champion in Seam's history, Haymitch Abernathy, has the dual duty of being "host" as well as supposed trainer for those who would follow him into the path that has been certain death for all others who have followed in his stead. He is a well known drunk, his victory gave him a home set away from the rest of the district in a place called Victory Village, he lives a life of relative luxury all the food he needs, people to tend his home, no more worries or so one would think. The towns leader, Mayor Undersee, begins the required speech telling the harrowing tale of how they arrived at the glory which is the reaping, at his side Effie Trinket District 12's escort from the Capitol. Effie seems to be enthralled at the whole procession, never facing a reaping herself he enthusiasm for the games is both sickening and frightening to those who have dealt year after year with the harrowing thought of losing a member of their family. After an embarrassing moment where Haymitch drunkenly arrives Effie steps up to draw the first name from the bin.
And it is that moment which brought Katniss to her knees, the name called was Primrose Everdeen. As if fate cared not for her careful planning, personal loss or feelings at all, young Prim at age 12, with one entry, in her first drawing is called out. As Prim is being led up to the stage waves of people part for Katniss as she makes the only decision available to her, she steps in front of her young sibling and volunteers to take her place. While there is a protocol for volunteering it has rarely if ever been used in Seam and appears to take Effie Trinket by surprise, while she calls for decorum (since as best she can remember both names are supposed to be called, the pair jointly announced and then volunteers asked for) the Mayor, as ashen faced as the rest of the towns people at a 12 year olds name being chosen, moves Effie along and allows Katniss to take her seat on the stage.
This was not done for glory nor the shower of resources promised by the capital to those who take part in this gladiatorial farce, this was for the survival of the one she loves above all others. Katniss believes she has signed her own death warrant, in 74 years only Haymitch has ever won from Seam and unlike some of the more wealthy districts that appear to have healthy and prepared(though it is supposed to be against the rules to train children for the games, but who cares as long as it is entertaining) tributes she feels her lean half starved frame will not last long, but she puts on a brave face not only for the cameras so that they can not revel in her emotion but for young Prim so that she can stand strong. In defiance of Effie's exuberance the entire town remains silent at her call for applause, who can cheer at such an occurrence the choice between yourself or your sibling.
Now it is the time for the boy tribute to be chosen, the name Selected is Peeta Mellark, the son of a baker and someone who has history with Katniss dating to right back after her fathers death. No one volunteers to take his place so after a reading of the Treaty of treason they are taken to justice building where they will have 1 hour to say good bye to their loved ones. Steeling herself Katniss tells her mother to stay strong for her sister, and Prim to have Gale sell her goats milk and cheese at the Hob. A deal struck long ago that if either of them were selected the other would keep their friends family alive, a marker that both had hoped to never cash in but fate it seems was too keen on that bargain. After promising Prim the almost impossible, that she would live long and come home, she had a moment with Gale, her closest friend if she had any and who had just earlier that day asked her to run away with him. To leave the district, and the insanity of the reaping and the Capitol.Her next guest is a surprise, Peeta's father the baker, with a package of cookies and a promise that he would do all he could for Katniss's family. Katniss knew the baker, he was fond of the squirrel meat that she brought back from the woods, but it was odd why would he be here knowing that by rules of the game she would possibly have to kill his son, yes there were 22 other tributes and most likely one of them would get him, but destiny was not her friend right now.
While I may have had to peak back a few times to get the names right I want to say that I love the story of the Hunger Games, no one is truly who they seem and no incident is as clear cut as it would appear when it is first shown to you. While the city of the Capitol is just as opulent and deluded as you would have gathered through the first few chapters not everyone in it is as vapid as you would think. Harkening back to Hansel and Gretel there is what seems to be a period of fattening up before thrusting the tributes into the games, but most of the main characters have many levels to them. Even Haymitch his alcoholism a response to a charge he is not only untrained for but that he has had no success for decades. Effie though decidedly pro Capitol even seems to have some desire for the well being of her charges, mostly for personal gain (she hopes that this games will bring her a promotion to a more prominent district with a better history of winning)but she looks out for them none the less.
At roughly 264 pages(I read this on my Thrive so I have no clue if it has more pages in a paper or hard cover version) I read it in about a night, not because the book was so short but because it held my attention through out and I didn't want to put the book down at all. I actually had to stop myself from reading through the sequel because I wanted to write the review of this book and not get so far lost in the story that I give away the important details of the first book because I was so deep in the second. I love stories with strong female leads, no not "I am a male replacement, look a nd act just like one and think tears are for sissies", I mean "resourceful, intelligent, feminine and believable women" who may not have all the answers but also aren't sitting there crying waiting for the hero to come save the day. If you send her some help fine, but she is going to do all that she can to get out of the situation and be prepared for the next occurrence if she can. Katniss is that type of character she was not made the way she is, she was honed and reshaped until she became who she needed to be, she does not relish in what it is the games may turn her into but she knows she can not turn away from what must be done if the situation presents itself. No matter how horrible the chance to return to her family and if just for the year possibly make the lives of the people in the Seam better she will not go down without a fight.
She seeks no glory in these games, just survival, she is a hunter, agile, swift and quick witted, used to fighting for survival and planning to survive again the next day. She also has human moments, she may not be sure of all of those that she deals with in the games, she may not even be sure of Peeta's intentions but she has no ill will towards him or anyone else, what must be done is due to the rules of the game they have been thrown into not personal malice. Her journey one of hard choices, luck and compassion as well as lethal accuracy and steely determination. I especially love the ending, it is not some quick easily disposed of thing no it must be devoured carefully, respected for it's preparation, enjoyed for it's flavor.
A good book and while there are a few bits of foul language in here they seem natural and not thrown in JUST to raise eyebrows, they really do feel like people involved in a moment of pain, passion, excitement or worry while in a tense or joyous situation. Like any other sporting event minus of course all the death. As I have seen a trailer for "The Hunger Games" I know it is coming to a theater near you later this year I can't wait to see what they kept and what they cut because this is another new classic that I can see having a great following for years to come.
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