The Hunger Games trilogy

***The Hunger Games*** is a series of five young-adult fiction books by Suzanne Collins. The series tells the story of Katniss Everdeen, a girl who lives in a fictional dystopian society called Panem. Panem is made up of the remains of the North America after a nuclear crisis. This country holds an event called The Hunger Games. They have 24 teenagers (aged 12–18) competing to stay alive. The objective is to kill all other players and to survive as long as possible. The last person alive (or in the 74th annual Hunger Games' case, the last two people from the same district alive) has successfully won the Hunger Games. A fifth book in the series, named Sunrise on the Reaping, was released on March 18, 2025.

## Setting

The books are set in a fictional country called Panem. Panem is split into 13 districts (Districts 1-12, Capitol). Previously, there was a district 13, but after the people in District 13 revolted against and declared war on the Capitol and lost, they were removed from Panem. The revolts resulted in the Capitol starting the Hunger Games, intended to scare the citizens and remind them that the Capitol is in charge. Each district had a purpose (e.g, District 12 - Coal Mining, District 11 - Agriculture, etc) and the Peacekeepers (workers from the Capitol) prevent people from going into other districts and making sure they follow the rules, mostly punishing law-breakers by public executions. Panem is located in future North America.

#### _The Hunger Games_

_The Hunger Games_ is set in North America. It is set about 250 years after a nuclear war destroyed the United States. Survivors of the war formed a nation called Panem. It is made of 12 districts and a central Capitol. When the nation was young, it was similar to the democratic republic that the United States currently is. As the nation became older, it became more corrupt. It changed into a totalitarian police state. The population of the Capitol stopped working and controlled over the districts with fear. The 13th district was made of most of the New England states, It was in charge of the military, graphite mining, and nuclear weapons. They rebelled against the capitol. The rest of the districts joined. The war was lost and District 13 was destroyed by their own weapons. The Capitol forced the remaining Districts to send one young boy and girl to participate in the Hunger Games. It was  a competition to the death. Each of the 24 district teens would fight for resources over 30 days. The objective is to kill others and survive. The real use of the games was entertainment for the rich Capitol citizens and eternal punishment for the "crimes" the districts committed against the Capitol. The series centers around Katniss Everdeen. Katniss is a girl from District 12 who gets selected for the Hunger Games. She spends the rest of the book trying to survive.

The first book begins with Katniss making sacrifices to feed her family. She has to do this because District 12 is a very small, poor district.  One day, the Capitol Peacekeepers, the police of Panem, come to District 12 and set up the raffle system for the Hunger Games. The teenagers of District 12 line up. Each gender forms its own line. The Head Peacekeeper pulls 2 names from the raffle. Peeta Mellark, a boy from the richer center of town, is the first chosen. The Head Peacekeeper reads out Katniss's sister Primrose's name. Katniss objects and volunteers to be in the games in her sisters place.

## Characters

- Katniss Everdeen – Main character, participates in the Hunger Games.
- Peeta Mellark – Participates in the Hunger Games and survives.
- Coriolanus Snow – President of Panem and organizer of the Hunger Games.
- Gale Hawthorne – Katniss's childhood friend from District 12.
- Effie Trinket - Katniss and Peeta's escort.

## Infobox (book series)

- **name**: The Hunger Games
- **books**: The Hunger Games (novel), The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Sunrise on the Reaping
- **author**: Suzanne Collins
- **country**: United States
- **language**: English
- **genre**: Adventure novel, Adventure
Science fiction
- **publisher**: Scholastic Corporation, Scholastic
- **media type**: Print (hardcover)