The Hunger Games

The book everyone's talking about in our little YA-loving sub-community at the CPC is definitely The Hunger Games. I was in line to borrow someone's copy but eventually decided to just buy it myself (wanted to find a nice little indie bookstore but it was 10pm and had to go for the closest B&N...). Totally worth it!

A future society, in what was once North America, consists of a filthy rich capital and twelve dirt poor districts. The districts once tried to revolt against the capital, but failed miserably. As punishment, the capital forces each one to send two children to the annual Hunger Games, a fight-to-the-death scenario televised live to entertain the rich. People are enthralled by the drama and bloodbath that always occur, and treat this like an extreme version of "Survivor." The games go on until only one child survives.

I will say I had a few editing qualms about the book, but the narrative was just fantastic.

The sequel comes out in September, but I thankfully have a librarian friend who got her hands on an advanced copy. So instead of waiting months to find out what happens, I only had to wait about two days! The Games are over, so I'm not sure what to expect in this book... but I've heard it's great.