Hunger Games
This book is a fast-paced adventure thriller set in the future with romance, intrigue, and a page-turning plot. It's the perfect sort of book to devour over winter break - whether you're hiding from your Aunt Rosie or stuck between flights in an airport somewhere.
Here's a little taste:
Just as the town clock strikes two, the mayor steps up to the podium and begins to read. It's the same story every year. He tells of the history of Panem, the country that rose up out of the ashes of a place that was once called North America. He lists the disasters, the droughts, the storms, the fires, the encroaching seas that swallowed up so much of the land, the brutal war for what little sustenance remained. The result was Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave us the new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games. The rules for the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competetors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.Fans of Susan Beth Pfeffer (Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone) and Scott Westerfeld (Uglies trilogy) who are looking for more should definitely give Hunger Games a try.
Do you have what it takes to be a contender in the Hunger Games?
Find out by trying out Scholastic's virtual Tribute Trials.
