Suzanne Collins. First edition (stated), later printing. Dust Jacket: Fine. An unclipped jacket designed by Tim O'Brien. Hardcover: Fine. New York: Scholastic Press, 2008. No writing or markings in the unread book, 374 pp. A beautiful edition, blue/grey cloth with gold emblem on cover and gold lettering on spine, with red endpapers. The book is like new, a great collectible.
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . . In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
This is the first book in Collins's dystopian trilogy. Its publication precipitated the boom in post-apocalyptic literature for young adults in the late 2000's, and the series was made into a wildly successful film in 2012 Directed by Gary Ross, starring Jennifer Lawrence.
